Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has issued a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $31.60.

GEN has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Gen Digital from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Gen Digital from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Gen Digital from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Argus raised shares of Gen Digital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Gen Digital from $22.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 200,000 shares of Gen Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $6,000,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,332,904 shares in the company, valued at $99,987,120. This trade represents a 5.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Travis Witteveen sold 30,000 shares of Gen Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.42, for a total transaction of $882,600.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 496,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,608,353.90. The trade was a 5.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 630,260 shares of company stock worth $17,967,726. 9.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gen Digital

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Gen Digital in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its position in shares of Gen Digital by 452.2% during the second quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 927 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 65.8% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc bought a new stake in shares of Gen Digital in the second quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Gen Digital by 221.5% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 1,183 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gen Digital Price Performance

GEN stock opened at $30.65 on Monday. Gen Digital has a twelve month low of $17.78 and a twelve month high of $31.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.00. The stock has a market cap of $18.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.82, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $27.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.03.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Gen Digital had a return on equity of 55.93% and a net margin of 20.73%.The firm’s revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. 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 research analysts forecast that Gen Digital will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Gen Digital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Gen Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.07%.

Gen Digital Company Profile

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.