AQR Capital Management LLC Increases Stake in Gen Digital Inc. $GEN

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Gen Digital Inc. by 19% in Q1, owning approximately 2.8 million shares worth $73.53 million by the end of the quarter.
• Gen Digital Inc. reported $0.64 earnings per share, surpassing expectations, with revenues reaching $1.26 billion for the quarter, a 30.3% year-over-year increase.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.125 per share to be paid on September 10th, offering a yield of 1.7% with a current dividend payout ratio of 51.55%.

AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN - Free Report) by 19.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,819,922 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 449,347 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.46% of Gen Digital worth $73,529,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Gen Digital by 3.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,690,768 shares of the company's stock worth $1,849,593,000 after buying an additional 2,513,464 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Gen Digital by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 21,067,048 shares of the company's stock valued at $559,126,000 after acquiring an additional 768,652 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Gen Digital by 37.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 13,358,167 shares of the company's stock worth $354,456,000 after buying an additional 3,631,052 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gen Digital in the first quarter valued at $299,562,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Gen Digital by 5.6% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,227,444 shares of the company's stock valued at $244,896,000 after buying an additional 491,977 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GEN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Gen Digital from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. Evercore ISI began coverage on Gen Digital in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of Gen Digital in a report on Monday, July 14th. They set a "buy" rating and a $46.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Gen Digital from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Gen Digital from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $36.50.

Gen Digital Stock Performance

Shares of Gen Digital stock traded up $0.42 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $29.67. 3,265,049 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,434,949. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $30.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.34. Gen Digital Inc. has a one year low of $22.74 and a one year high of $32.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 0.99.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.04. Gen Digital had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 57.99%. The company had revenue of $1.26 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.19 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 30.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Gen Digital has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.600-0.620 EPS. FY 2026 guidance at 2.490-2.560 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gen Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th were issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 18th. Gen Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.55%.

About Gen Digital

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.