Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) Coverage Initiated at B. Riley

Equities researchers at B. Riley initiated coverage on shares of Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) in a research note issued on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $46.00 price target on the stock. B. Riley’s price objective points to a potential upside of 53.79% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on GEN. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Gen Digital from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Gen Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Barclays upped their price target on Gen Digital from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Gen Digital from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Gen Digital in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. They set an “outperform” rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.60.

Gen Digital Stock Performance

Shares of GEN stock opened at $29.91 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $18.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.76, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.01. Gen Digital has a 52-week low of $22.74 and a 52-week high of $31.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51. The company’s 50 day moving average is $29.09 and its 200 day moving average is $27.51.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $999.48 million. Gen Digital had a return on equity of 59.38% and a net margin of 16.34%. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.53 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Gen Digital will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gen Digital news, Director Nora Denzel sold 31,646 shares of Gen Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.76, for a total transaction of $910,138.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 34,860 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,002,573.60. The trade was a 47.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 12.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gen Digital

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rise Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Gen Digital by 19.2% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 2,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV grew its position in shares of Gen Digital by 0.6% in the first quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 69,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,856,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 1.5% during the first quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 31,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $837,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 0.7% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 78,602 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,311,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Greenleaf Trust raised its position in shares of Gen Digital by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 18,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $478,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gen Digital Company Profile

Gen Digital Inc engages in the provision of cyber safety solutions for consumers in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Japan. The company offers security and performance products under Norton, Avast, Avira, AVG, and CCleaner brands that provide real-time protection and maintenance for PCs, Macs, and mobile devices against malware, viruses, adware, and other online threats.