Plato Investment Management Ltd Takes Position in Gen Digital Inc. $GEN

Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 51,188 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,267,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GEN. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,310,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,993,302,000 after buying an additional 1,096,313 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Gen Digital by 3.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,558,806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $867,565,000 after acquiring an additional 1,015,755 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in shares of Gen Digital by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 22,473,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,730,000 after purchasing an additional 1,406,869 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in Gen Digital by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 19,941,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $542,211,000 after purchasing an additional 3,640,451 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its position in Gen Digital by 14.3% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 15,644,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $425,336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,954,712 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GEN has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Gen Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Gen Digital from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Barclays increased their price objective on Gen Digital from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Gen Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Gen Digital from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. One equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $31.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gen Digital

In other news, insider Travis Michael Witteveen sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were 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 approximately $14,608,353.90. This trade represents a 5.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.78, for a total transaction of $2,478,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,832,724 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,974,900.72. This trade represents a 2.54% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 9.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Gen Digital Stock Performance

GEN opened at $27.41 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $16.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.94 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. Gen Digital Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.78 and a 1-year high of $31.88. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $26.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.46.

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

Gen Digital Dividend Announcement

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

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.