Hsbc Holdings PLC Buys 555,469 Shares of Gen Digital Inc. $GEN

Key Points

• Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in Gen Digital Inc. by 25.3%, acquiring an additional 555,469 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total ownership to approximately 2.75 million shares.
• Gen Digital reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.64, surpassing analyst estimates of $0.60, with revenue rising 30.3% year-over-year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.125 per share, yielding 1.6%, with an ex-dividend date set for August 18.

Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its stake in Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN - Free Report) by 25.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,750,399 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 555,469 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned approximately 0.45% of Gen Digital worth $72,844,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 12.9% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 129,504 shares of the company's stock worth $3,437,000 after acquiring an additional 14,805 shares during the last quarter. Korea Investment CORP raised its holdings in Gen Digital by 124.3% in the 1st quarter. Korea Investment CORP now owns 549,683 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,589,000 after buying an additional 304,600 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Gen Digital by 14.3% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,689,268 shares of the company's stock valued at $204,073,000 after buying an additional 962,228 shares during the last quarter. Affinity Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Gen Digital by 19.5% in the 1st quarter. Affinity Investment Advisors LLC now owns 24,293 shares of the company's stock valued at $645,000 after buying an additional 3,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Gen Digital by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 1,440,030 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,218,000 after buying an additional 44,371 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Gen Digital in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Gen Digital from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of Gen Digital in a report on Monday, July 14th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Gen Digital from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Gen Digital from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $35.33.

Gen Digital Trading Up 1.3%

NASDAQ:GEN traded up $0.39 on Friday, reaching $31.58. 3,609,020 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,939,223. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.00. The company's 50 day moving average is $30.07 and its 200-day moving average is $28.11. The company has a current ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.63. Gen Digital Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.74 and a 1-year high of $32.22.

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

Gen Digital Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Gen Digital's dividend payout ratio is currently 51.55%.

Gen Digital Profile

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.