Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) Rating Increased to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Gen Digital from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Gen Digital from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Gen Digital in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Evercore lifted their price target on Gen Digital from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gen Digital presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.29.

Gen Digital Price Performance

GEN traded up $0.19 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $22.53. 792,145 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,110,933. Gen Digital has a 12-month low of $22.14 and a 12-month high of $32.22. The company’s 50-day moving average is $25.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.50. The company has a market cap of $13.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.09.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. Gen Digital had a return on equity of 56.76% and a net margin of 12.76%.The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 25.8% on a year-over-year basis. 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. Research analysts forecast that Gen Digital will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gen Digital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Monday, February 16th will be given a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Gen Digital’s payout ratio is presently 51.55%.

Insider Transactions at Gen Digital

In other Gen Digital news, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 113,674 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.12, for a total transaction of $3,082,838.88. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,932,980 shares in the company, valued at $106,662,417.60. This trade represents a 2.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 9.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gen Digital

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 73,310,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,993,302,000 after purchasing an additional 1,096,313 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Gen Digital by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 30,558,806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $867,565,000 after buying an additional 1,015,755 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in Gen Digital by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 22,961,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $651,867,000 after acquiring an additional 487,393 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Gen Digital by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 19,941,546 shares of the company’s stock worth $542,211,000 after acquiring an additional 3,640,451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Gen Digital by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 15,644,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $425,336,000 after acquiring an additional 1,954,712 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.