Gen Digital Inc. $GEN Shares Sold by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its position in Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) by 25.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,808,943 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,132,603 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 2.45% of Gen Digital worth $278,852,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gen Digital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in Gen Digital by 65.8% during the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 221.5% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183 shares during the period. MUFG Securities EMEA plc bought a new position in shares of Gen Digital in the 2nd quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. lifted its position in shares of Gen Digital by 47.8% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. now owns 1,756 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GEN shares. Argus upgraded shares of Gen Digital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $27.00 target price on shares of Gen Digital in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Barclays raised their price target on Gen Digital from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. 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 downgraded shares of Gen Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.33.

Insider Transactions at Gen Digital

In other news, 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 value of $2,478,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,832,724 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,974,900.72. This represents a 2.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John C. Chrystal acquired 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were bought at an average price of $27.06 per share, for a total transaction of $81,180.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 31,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $850,198.14. This trade represents a 10.56% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 9.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Gen Digital Stock Performance

Shares of GEN stock opened at $25.58 on Thursday. Gen Digital Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.78 and a 12-month high of $32.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 0.40 and a quick ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.19 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.22.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. Gen Digital had a return on equity of 55.47% and a net margin of 19.46%.The company had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. The firm’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. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Gen Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Gen Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.65%.

Gen Digital 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.