Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) Sets New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $30.53 and last traded at $30.53, with a volume of 2828 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $30.50.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GEN has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. 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. Argus raised shares of Gen Digital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Gen Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 16th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Gen Digital from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Gen Digital from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.67.

Gen Digital Stock Up 0.5%

The stock has a market capitalization of $18.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.81 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $26.92 and its 200-day moving average is $23.76. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.00.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Gen Digital had a net margin of 20.73% and a return on equity of 55.93%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. 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 research analysts predict that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Gen Digital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. Gen Digital’s dividend payout ratio is 29.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 152,358 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.00, for a total transaction of $4,418,382.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,532,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,454,216. This trade represents a 4.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John C. Chrystal acquired 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $27.06 per share, with a total value of $81,180.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 31,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $850,198.14. The trade was a 10.56% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 430,260 shares of company stock worth $11,967,726 in the last three months. Insiders own 9.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GEN. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Gen Digital during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Grove Bank & Trust increased its position in Gen Digital by 452.2% in the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,132 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 927 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new stake in Gen Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of Gen Digital in the first quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 65.8% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.