Gen Digital Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:GEN)

Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors bought 7,475 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 578% compared to the average daily volume of 1,102 call options.

Gen Digital Stock Down 1.0%

GEN stock traded down $0.28 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $29.00. The stock had a trading volume of 1,170,676 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,686,463. Gen Digital has a 1-year low of $17.78 and a 1-year high of $32.22. The company has a fifty day moving average of $25.99 and a 200 day moving average of $23.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.87 and a beta of 1.21.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.02. Gen Digital had a return on equity of 55.93% and a net margin of 20.73%.The business had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Gen Digital has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.870-2.970 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 0.710-0.730 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Gen Digital will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gen Digital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. Gen Digital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 29.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on GEN. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Gen Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Argus raised Gen Digital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Gen Digital from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Gen Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Gen Digital from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.67.

Insider Activity at Gen Digital

In other news, Director John C. Chrystal bought 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $27.06 per share, with a total value of $81,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 31,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $850,198.14. The trade was a 10.56% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.78, for a total transaction of $2,478,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,832,724 shares in the company, valued at $94,974,900.72. This represents a 2.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 9.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gen Digital

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GEN. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Gen Digital by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,310,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,993,302,000 after buying an additional 1,096,313 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,558,806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $867,565,000 after acquiring an additional 1,015,755 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 22,473,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $660,730,000 after acquiring an additional 1,406,869 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 19,941,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $542,211,000 after acquiring an additional 3,640,451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 15,644,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $425,336,000 after acquiring an additional 1,954,712 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Gen Digital

Gen Digital (NASDAQ: GEN) is a global cybersecurity company specializing in consumer- and small-business-focused security, privacy, and identity protection solutions. The company offers a suite of products designed to safeguard devices, networks, and personal information against malware, ransomware, phishing attacks and other digital threats. With a focus on user-friendly interfaces and cross-platform compatibility, Gen Digital develops antivirus software, VPN services, parental controls, password management tools, and comprehensive identity-theft monitoring services.

Gen Digital traces its origins to the consumer software division of Symantec Corporation, which was spun off in late 2019 under the NortonLifeLock name.