Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 1,558,983 Shares of Gen Digital Inc. $GEN

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 71,249,751 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,558,983 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 11.57% of Gen Digital worth $2,094,743,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Aviva PLC grew its stake in Gen Digital by 6.6% during the second quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 407,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,970,000 after acquiring an additional 25,315 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Gen Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at $394,000. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC bought a new position in Gen Digital in the 1st quarter valued at $5,732,000. First Hawaiian Bank grew its position in shares of Gen Digital by 129.6% during the 1st quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 75,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,998,000 after purchasing an additional 42,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. increased its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 15.5% in the second quarter. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. now owns 170,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,999,000 after purchasing an additional 22,884 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John C. Chrystal acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $27.14 per share, with a total value of $135,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 28,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $771,291.66. The trade was a 21.35% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 9.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on GEN. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Gen Digital from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Gen Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Gen Digital from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Gen Digital from $25.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Gen Digital in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Gen Digital currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $35.43.

Gen Digital Price Performance

Shares of Gen Digital stock opened at $26.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.63, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.50. Gen Digital Inc. has a one year low of $22.74 and a one year high of $32.22. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.94.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.01. Gen Digital had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 57.99%. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. Gen Digital has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.510-2.56 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 0.620-0.64 EPS. Analysts forecast that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

Gen Digital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Gen Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.35%.

Gen Digital Profile

Gen Digital Inc engages in the provision of cyber safety solutions for consumers in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Japan. The company offers security and performance products under Norton, Avast, Avira, AVG, and CCleaner brands that provide real-time protection and maintenance for PCs, Macs, and mobile devices against malware, viruses, adware, and other online threats.