Brokerages Set Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) PT at $35.29

Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $35.2857.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GEN. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Gen Digital in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays decreased their price objective on Gen Digital from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 6th. Evercore upped their target price on shares of Gen Digital from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Gen Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Gen Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 8th.

Gen Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GEN opened at $23.72 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.50, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.47. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $26.01 and a 200 day moving average of $27.46. The firm has a market cap of $14.37 billion, a PE ratio of 24.45, a PEG ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.09. Gen Digital has a one year low of $22.14 and a one year high of $32.22.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. Gen Digital had a net margin of 12.76% and a return on equity of 56.76%. The business had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gen Digital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 16th will be paid a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. Gen Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.55%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Gen Digital

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,703,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,757,000 after buying an additional 28,522 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Gen Digital in the first quarter worth approximately $205,000. Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in Gen Digital by 37.8% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 27,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $732,000 after acquiring an additional 7,562 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in Gen Digital by 9.7% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 22,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 1,980 shares during the period. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Gen Digital by 221.5% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

About Gen Digital

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.