Gen Digital Inc. $GEN Shares Purchased by Legal & General Group Plc

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc increased its Gen Digital stake by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, ending with 9,085,216 shares valued at about $247 million.
• Gen Digital reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.67 versus $0.65 expected and revenue of $1.28 billion, up 27% year over year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.125 per share, while analysts currently have a Hold consensus rating and an average price target of $31.29.

Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN - Free Report) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,085,216 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 334,156 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 1.47% of Gen Digital worth $247,027,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in Gen Digital by 38,275.3% in the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 194,563 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,078,000 after acquiring an additional 194,056 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,213,797 shares of the company's stock worth $2,050,150,000 after purchasing an additional 964,046 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Gen Digital during the 3rd quarter worth about $8,238,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 525.5% during the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 83,826 shares of the company's stock worth $2,380,000 after purchasing an additional 70,424 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LBP AM SA boosted its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 63.7% during the 4th quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 738,272 shares of the company's stock worth $20,074,000 after purchasing an additional 287,369 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gen Digital Trading Down 0.2%

NASDAQ GEN opened at $24.76 on Wednesday. Gen Digital Inc. has a one year low of $17.78 and a one year high of $32.22. The company's 50 day moving average price is $20.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.67 and a beta of 1.10.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. Gen Digital had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 55.47%. The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. Gen Digital's revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Gen Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.680-0.700 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 2.850-2.950 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Gen Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Gen Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Gen Digital from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Gen Digital from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Gen Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Zacks Research raised shares of Gen Digital from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Gen Digital from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Gen Digital currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $31.29.

Gen Digital 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.

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