Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Sunday morning.

Several other research analysts also recently issued reports on GEN. Weiss Ratings raised Gen Digital from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Argus raised shares of Gen Digital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Gen Digital from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Gen Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Gen Digital from $22.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.67.

Gen Digital Stock Performance

GEN opened at $27.64 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $16.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.07 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.00, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.48. Gen Digital has a 1-year low of $17.78 and a 1-year high of $31.88.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Gen Digital had a return on equity of 55.93% and a net margin of 20.73%.Gen Digital’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. 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. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Gen Digital will post 2.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gen Digital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. Gen Digital’s payout ratio is presently 29.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gen Digital

In other Gen Digital news, insider Travis Michael Witteveen sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.42, for a total value of $882,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 496,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,608,353.90. This represents a 5.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director John C. Chrystal purchased 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $27.06 per share, for a total transaction of $81,180.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 31,419 shares in the company, valued at $850,198.14. The trade was a 10.56% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 9.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gen Digital

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GEN. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Gen Digital by 20.9% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new position in shares of Gen Digital in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 26,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $764,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,735 shares of the company’s stock worth $210,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Gen Digital Company 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.