Argus Issues Positive Forecast for Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) Stock Price

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) had its price objective increased by Argus from $32.00 to $35.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Gen Digital from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Gen Digital from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Gen Digital from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Gen Digital from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Gen Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.20.

Gen Digital Price Performance

Gen Digital stock opened at $30.64 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.57. The stock has a market cap of $18.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.24. Gen Digital has a 12-month low of $17.78 and a 12-month high of $31.65. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.02. Gen Digital had a return on equity of 56.80% and a net margin of 23.07%. The firm had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.62 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Gen Digital will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Gen Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.1250 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 16th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Gen Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 25.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $6,000,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,332,904 shares in the company, valued at $99,987,120. This trade represents a 5.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Travis Witteveen sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.75, for a total transaction of $892,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 466,545 shares in the company, valued at $13,879,713.75. This represents a 6.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 558,508 shares of company stock worth $16,365,993. Insiders own 9.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Gen Digital by 45.8% during the first 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. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Gen Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at $225,169,000. Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Gen Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at $146,639,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Gen Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at $108,421,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Gen Digital by 28.6% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 2,559,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,195,000 after buying an additional 569,581 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

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.