Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eight analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $35.4286.

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GEN. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on shares of Gen Digital from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Gen Digital in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Gen Digital in a report on Friday, October 3rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Gen Digital from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Gen Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 12th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 113,674 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.12, for a total transaction of $3,082,838.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,932,980 shares in the company, valued at $106,662,417.60. This trade represents a 2.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director John C. Chrystal acquired 5,000 shares of Gen Digital stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price 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 $771,291.66. This represents a 21.35% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 9.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Gen Digital

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 92.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 1,183.3% during the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 994 shares during the last quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Gen Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Gen Digital by 48.6% during the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CYBER HORNET ETFs LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gen Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Gen Digital Trading Down 1.1%

NASDAQ:GEN opened at $26.10 on Friday. Gen Digital has a 1 year low of $22.74 and a 1 year high of $32.22. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $26.86 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $28.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The company has a market cap of $16.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.09.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.20 billion. Gen Digital had a return on equity of 57.09% and a net margin of 12.74%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. Gen Digital has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.510-2.56 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.620-0.64 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Gen Digital will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

Gen Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 17th were given a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 17th. Gen Digital’s payout ratio is currently 54.35%.

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.