Gen Digital Inc. $GEN Shares Bought by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 16,301,095 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 401,937 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Gen Digital were worth $462,788,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Amundi raised its position in shares of Gen Digital by 273.3% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 4,303,552 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,289,000 after acquiring an additional 3,150,651 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Gen Digital by 82.7% in the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,497,501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $132,227,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035,925 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Gen Digital by 2.2% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,249,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,094,743,000 after purchasing an additional 1,558,983 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Gen Digital by 6.7% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 22,473,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,730,000 after purchasing an additional 1,406,869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in shares of Gen Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,220,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gen Digital news, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 113,674 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.12, for a total value of $3,082,838.88. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,932,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $106,662,417.60. The trade was a 2.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 9.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GEN has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Gen Digital from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Gen Digital in a research report on Tuesday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 price target for the company. Evercore upped their price objective on shares of Gen Digital from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating 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, February 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Gen Digital from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.71.

Gen Digital Stock Performance

Shares of GEN stock opened at $22.61 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $24.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.69 billion, a PE ratio of 23.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.11. Gen Digital Inc. has a 52-week low of $21.33 and a 52-week high of $32.22.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. Gen Digital had a return on equity of 56.76% and a net margin of 12.76%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. Gen Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.640-0.660 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 2.540-2.560 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

Gen Digital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Monday, February 16th will be given a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. Gen Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.55%.

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.