Leuthold Group LLC Makes New $4.45 Million Investment in Gen Digital Inc. $GEN

Leuthold Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 201,947 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,447,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Retirement Systems of Alabama acquired a new position in shares of Gen Digital in the third quarter worth about $2,488,000. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP grew its stake in Gen Digital by 44.1% during the 3rd quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP now owns 27,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $577,000 after purchasing an additional 8,464 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Gen Digital by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 33,869 shares of the company’s stock worth $754,000 after purchasing an additional 4,483 shares during the last quarter. Ethic Inc. increased its holdings in Gen Digital by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 83,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,837,000 after purchasing an additional 14,823 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verus Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Gen Digital by 47.5% during the 3rd quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 23,620 shares of the company’s stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 7,603 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Gen Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Gen Digital from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Gen Digital from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Gen Digital from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Gen Digital from $22.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Gen Digital currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gen Digital news, COO Bryan Seuk Ko sold 28,248 shares of Gen Digital stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.67, for a total value of $866,366.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 744,262 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,826,515.54. The trade was a 3.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $6,000,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,332,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99,987,120. The trade was a 5.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 558,508 shares of company stock worth $16,365,993 over the last ninety days. 9.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Gen Digital Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ GEN opened at $29.80 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $26.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.52. Gen Digital Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.78 and a 52-week high of $31.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.97, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.37 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Gen Digital had a return on equity of 56.80% and a net margin of 23.07%. Gen Digital’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.62 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gen Digital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 9th. Investors of record on Monday, November 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.1250 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.7%. Gen Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.13%.

About Gen Digital

Gen Digital Inc is a global cybersecurity company that provides digital safety and identity protection services to consumers and small businesses. Its products include antivirus and malware protection, virtual private networks, password managers, scam protection, and identity monitoring and recovery services.

The company offers services through brands including Norton, Avast, LifeLock, Avira, AVG, and CCleaner. Its products are available in markets around the world through direct subscriptions and other distribution channels.

Gen Digital was formed in 2022 when NortonLifeLock completed its acquisition of Avast and adopted the Gen name.