Norges Bank Makes New $31.99 Million Investment in Gen Digital Inc. $GEN

Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 1,176,561 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,991,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 1.5% during the fourth 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 last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Gen Digital by 3.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,558,806 shares of the company’s stock worth $867,565,000 after purchasing an additional 1,015,755 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Gen Digital by 2.2% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 22,961,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $651,867,000 after buying an additional 487,393 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in Gen Digital by 2.5% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 16,301,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $462,788,000 after buying an additional 401,937 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Gen Digital by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,592,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $422,461,000 after purchasing an additional 129,413 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John C. Chrystal bought 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $27.06 per share, for a total transaction of $81,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 31,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $850,198.14. This represents a 10.56% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 9.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Gen Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ GEN opened at $24.97 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $21.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. Gen Digital Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.78 and a 12-month high of $32.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.80 and a beta of 1.21.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. Gen Digital had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 55.47%. Gen Digital’s revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. Gen Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.680-0.700 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 2.850-2.950 EPS. Analysts forecast that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gen Digital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Gen Digital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 31.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GEN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Gen Digital from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Argus raised Gen Digital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Gen Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Gen Digital from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Gen Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.29.

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.