Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the nine ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $35.2857.

GEN has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Gen Digital in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays dropped their price target on Gen Digital from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Gen Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. Evercore upped their target price on shares of Gen Digital from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Gen Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gen Digital

In other Gen Digital news, Director John C. Chrystal purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $27.14 per share, for a total transaction of $135,700.00. Following the purchase, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 113,674 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director owned 3,932,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $106,662,417.60. This represents a 2.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 9.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gen Digital in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in Gen Digital by 92.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management increased its position in Gen Digital by 1,183.3% during the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 994 shares during the period. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. bought a new position in Gen Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Gen Digital by 48.6% in the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gen Digital Price Performance

Shares of GEN opened at $25.17 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. Gen Digital has a twelve month low of $22.14 and a twelve month high of $32.22. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $26.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.55. The firm has a market cap of $15.24 billion, a PE ratio of 25.95, a PEG ratio of 0.82 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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. Gen Digital had a return on equity of 56.76% and a net margin of 12.76%.The company had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.56 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue 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 expect that Gen Digital will post 2.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gen Digital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 16th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Gen Digital’s payout ratio is 51.55%.

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.