Brokerages Set Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) Price Target at $29.33

Shares of Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven equities research 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 target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $31.6667.

GEN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Gen Digital from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Gen Digital from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Argus upgraded Gen Digital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on Gen Digital from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Gen Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th.

Insider Transactions at Gen Digital

In other news, Director John C. Chrystal acquired 3,000 shares of Gen Digital stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $27.06 per share, with a total value of $81,180.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 31,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $850,198.14. This trade represents a 10.56% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director owned 3,832,724 shares in the company, valued at $94,974,900.72. The trade was a 2.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 9.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gen Digital

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Deutsche Bank AG purchased a new stake in shares of Gen Digital during the second quarter worth about $146,639,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Gen Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $108,421,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Gen Digital by 45.8% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 13,094,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,567,000 after purchasing an additional 4,115,676 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Gen Digital by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 19,941,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $542,211,000 after purchasing an additional 3,640,451 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in Gen Digital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $70,248,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gen Digital Stock Performance

GEN opened at $28.64 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.00. The company has a market cap of $17.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.65 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s 50 day moving average is $26.07 and its 200 day moving average is $23.39. Gen Digital has a 12-month low of $17.78 and a 12-month high of $32.22.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.02. Gen Digital had a net margin of 20.73% and a return on equity of 55.93%. The company had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Gen Digital has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.870-2.970 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 0.710-0.730 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Gen Digital will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Gen Digital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Gen Digital’s dividend payout ratio is presently 29.07%.

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.