KBC Group NV Trims Position in Gen Digital Inc. $GEN

KBC Group NV trimmed its stake in shares of Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) by 50.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,449,692 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,479,425 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned about 0.24% of Gen Digital worth $27,297,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GEN. SEB Asset Management AB acquired a new stake in shares of Gen Digital in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $19,483,000. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 7.1% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,538,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,968,000 after purchasing an additional 101,500 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 97.4% in the first quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 387,597 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,101,000 after acquiring an additional 191,207 shares during the last quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel raised its stake in Gen Digital by 27.3% in the 1st quarter. Aurora Investment Counsel now owns 69,876 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,316,000 after purchasing an additional 14,971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. lifted its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 32.6% during the first quarter. Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. now owns 22,620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $426,000 after buying an additional 5,558 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GEN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Argus upgraded Gen Digital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Gen Digital from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $27.00 price target on shares of Gen Digital in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Weiss Ratings raised Gen Digital from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Gen Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gen Digital presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director John C. Chrystal acquired 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $27.06 per share, for a total transaction of $81,180.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 31,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $850,198.14. This represents a 10.56% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.78, for a total transaction of $2,478,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,832,724 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,974,900.72. This trade represents a 2.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 9.30% of the company’s stock.

Gen Digital Trading Down 2.1%

NASDAQ:GEN opened at $26.11 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $15.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.53 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. Gen Digital Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.78 and a 12-month high of $32.22. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.23.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.59 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue 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 analysts anticipate that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.59 EPS for the current year.

Gen Digital Announces Dividend

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

About Gen Digital

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.