KBC Group NV Sells 1,479,425 Shares of Gen Digital Inc. $GEN

KBC Group NV decreased its position in Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) by 50.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,449,692 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,479,425 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Gen Digital were worth $27,297,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $1,993,302,000 after acquiring an additional 1,096,313 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 3.4% during the 3rd 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 period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its holdings in Gen Digital by 6.7% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 22,473,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $660,730,000 after buying an additional 1,406,869 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,640,451 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,954,712 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. 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 lifted their price objective on Gen Digital from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $27.00 price target on shares of Gen Digital in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Argus raised Gen Digital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Gen Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, June 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.33.

Gen Digital Trading Down 2.1%

NASDAQ:GEN opened at $26.11 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $15.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.53 and a beta of 1.21. Gen Digital Inc. has a one year low of $17.78 and a one year high of $32.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $25.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.23.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. Gen Digital had a return on equity of 55.47% and a net margin of 19.46%.Gen Digital’s revenue was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.59 earnings per share. 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. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gen Digital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. Gen Digital’s payout ratio is currently 31.65%.

Insider Transactions at Gen Digital

In other Gen Digital news, Director John C. Chrystal acquired 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $27.06 per share, for a total transaction of $81,180.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 31,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $850,198.14. This trade represents a 10.56% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 100,000 shares of Gen Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 3,832,724 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $94,974,900.72. The trade was a 2.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 9.30% of the company’s stock.

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.