Van ECK Associates Corp Increases Stock Holdings in Gen Digital Inc. $GEN

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) by 101.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,348 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 27,847 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Gen Digital were worth $1,378,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GEN. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Gen Digital during the second quarter worth about $225,169,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in shares of Gen Digital in the second quarter valued at approximately $146,639,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Gen Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $108,421,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 45.8% during 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. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Gen Digital by 22.3% during 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 during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Gen Digital

In related news, insider Travis Witteveen sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.42, for a total value of $882,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 496,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,608,353.90. The trade was a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $6,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,332,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $99,987,120. This trade represents a 5.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 630,260 shares of company stock worth $17,967,726 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 9.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GEN has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays upped their target price on Gen Digital from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Gen Digital from $22.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Gen Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Gen Digital from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Argus upgraded Gen Digital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.60.

Gen Digital Price Performance

GEN stock opened at $30.65 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.00. Gen Digital Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.78 and a 52-week high of $31.65. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.03.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.02. Gen Digital had a return on equity of 55.93% and a net margin of 20.73%.The firm had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.64 earnings per share. The business’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. Equities research analysts expect that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Gen Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. 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.