Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) Shares Down 6% – What’s Next?

Shares of Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) traded down 6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $27.64 and last traded at $27.3990. Approximately 1,866,670 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 6,566,205 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.15.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on GEN. Barclays upped their price objective on Gen Digital from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Gen Digital from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Gen Digital from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen cut Gen Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on 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 assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.60.

Gen Digital Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $28.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.70. The stock has a market cap of $15.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.00.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Gen Digital had a return on equity of 55.93% and a net margin of 20.73%.The firm’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $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. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gen Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. Gen Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 29.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gen Digital

In other news, insider Travis Witteveen sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.42, for a total transaction of $882,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 496,545 shares in the company, valued at $14,608,353.90. This trade represents a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 200,000 shares of Gen Digital stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $6,000,000.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 558,508 shares of company stock worth $16,356,093. Insiders own 9.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Gen Digital

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 254.6% in the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 257,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,421,000 after buying an additional 185,219 shares in the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC grew its position in Gen Digital by 38.7% in the second quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 7,337 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,000 after acquiring an additional 2,049 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in Gen Digital during the second quarter worth approximately $177,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Gen Digital by 6.1% during the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 91,109 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,268,000 after acquiring an additional 5,203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Gen Digital by 13.0% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 8,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 1,025 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

About Gen Digital

Gen Digital Inc (NASDAQ: GEN) is a global cybersecurity and consumer safety company that provides products designed to help individuals and families protect their devices, online identities, personal information and digital privacy. The company serves customers through a portfolio of consumer-focused cybersecurity and privacy brands.

Its products and services include antivirus and device security, identity theft protection, virtual private networks, password management, online privacy tools, scam protection and family safety features.