Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.2857.

GEN has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Gen Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Gen Digital from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Gen Digital in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on Gen Digital from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Argus raised Gen Digital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd.

Gen Digital Stock Performance

Shares of GEN stock opened at $24.18 on Tuesday. Gen Digital has a 12-month low of $17.78 and a 12-month high of $32.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $22.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $14.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.30 and a beta of 1.21.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. Gen Digital had a return on equity of 55.47% and a net margin of 19.46%.The company had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. Gen Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.680-0.700 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 2.850-2.950 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Gen Digital will post 2.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gen Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Gen Digital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.65%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.78, for a total transaction of $2,478,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,832,724 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,974,900.72. This represents a 2.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director John C. Chrystal bought 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $27.06 per share, for a total transaction of $81,180.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 31,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $850,198.14. The trade was a 10.56% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 9.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GEN. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gen Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 48.6% in the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Gen Digital in the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted 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 valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

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.