Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Wall Street Zen

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

GEN has been the topic of a number of other reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Gen Digital in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Gen Digital in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Gen Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Gen Digital from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Gen Digital from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gen Digital currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.43.

Gen Digital Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of GEN stock opened at $23.99 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43. Gen Digital has a 12 month low of $22.74 and a 12 month high of $32.22. The stock has a market cap of $14.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.91.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.01. Gen Digital had a net margin of 12.74% and a return on equity of 57.09%. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Gen Digital has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.510-2.56 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.620-0.64 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Gen Digital will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gen Digital

In other Gen Digital news, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 113,674 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,932,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $106,662,417.60. This represents a 2.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John C. Chrystal acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $27.14 per share, with a total value of $135,700.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 28,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $771,291.66. This represents a 21.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 9.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GEN. Vest Financial LLC grew its position in Gen Digital by 81.9% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 40,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,100,000 after acquiring an additional 18,228 shares in the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 6.3% in the 4th quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 33,828 shares of the company’s stock valued at $920,000 after purchasing an additional 1,991 shares during the last quarter. Certuity LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 10,530 shares of the company’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 14,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $381,000 after purchasing an additional 1,391 shares during the period. Finally, Aprio Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Gen Digital during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $381,000. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

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.