Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) Upgraded 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 firms have also issued reports on GEN. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Gen Digital in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Evercore boosted their price objective on shares of Gen Digital from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target 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. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Gen Digital from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Gen Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $35.29.

Gen Digital Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ GEN opened at $22.35 on Wednesday. Gen Digital has a 52-week low of $22.08 and a 52-week high of $32.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.04, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $25.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.50, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47.

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

Gen Digital Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 113,674 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the director owned 3,932,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $106,662,417.60. The trade was a 2.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 9.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gen Digital

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Aviva PLC raised its holdings in Gen Digital by 6.6% in the second quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 407,156 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,970,000 after buying an additional 25,315 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in Gen Digital by 48.1% during the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 978,066 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,755,000 after buying an additional 317,468 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Gen Digital in the second quarter worth $394,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 39.4% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 359,142 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,559,000 after acquiring an additional 101,580 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 481.8% during the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 462,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,140,000 after acquiring an additional 383,279 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.