Brokerages Set Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) Target Price at $31.29

Shares of Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $28.8333.

Several analysts have commented on GEN shares. Argus raised Gen Digital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Barclays upped their target price 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Gen Digital in a research report on Thursday, June 18th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Gen Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Gen Digital from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John C. Chrystal acquired 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was bought 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 in the company, valued at approximately $850,198.14. This represents a 10.56% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.78, for a total value of $2,478,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,832,724 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $94,974,900.72. The trade was a 2.54% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 9.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GEN. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Gen Digital by 38,275.3% during the fourth quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 194,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,078,000 after buying an additional 194,056 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Gen Digital by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,155,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,128,000 after acquiring an additional 102,345 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Gen Digital by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,085,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,027,000 after acquiring an additional 334,156 shares during the last quarter. LBP AM SA lifted its stake in Gen Digital by 63.7% in the fourth quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 738,272 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,074,000 after acquiring an additional 287,369 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its holdings in Gen Digital by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 934,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,420,000 after acquiring an additional 112,136 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Gen Digital Stock Up 1.6%

GEN opened at $26.57 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $24.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.82 and a beta of 1.21. Gen Digital has a fifty-two week low of $17.78 and a fifty-two week high of $32.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. Gen Digital had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 55.47%. The business had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.59 EPS. The company’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. On average, research analysts expect that Gen Digital will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Gen Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. Gen Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.65%.

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.