Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) Hits New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) shares hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $22.12 and last traded at $22.30, with a volume of 2006153 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $22.34.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on GEN shares. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Gen Digital from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 7th. Evercore boosted their target price on shares of Gen Digital from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Gen Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 8th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Gen Digital from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Gen Digital from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.29.

Gen Digital Stock Up 0.0%

The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.50. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.09.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. Gen Digital had a return on equity of 56.76% and a net margin of 12.76%.The company’s revenue was up 25.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.56 EPS. Gen Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.640-0.660 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 2.540-2.560 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gen Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 16th will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Gen Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.55%.

Insider Activity at Gen Digital

In related news, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 113,674 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.12, for a total value of $3,082,838.88. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,932,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $106,662,417.60. The trade was a 2.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 9.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gen Digital

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GEN. Aviva PLC lifted its position in shares of Gen Digital by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 407,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,970,000 after buying an additional 25,315 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 48.1% during the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 978,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,755,000 after acquiring an additional 317,468 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Gen Digital in the 2nd quarter worth about $394,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in Gen Digital by 39.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 359,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,559,000 after acquiring an additional 101,580 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Gen Digital by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,213,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,050,150,000 after acquiring an additional 964,046 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.