National Pension Service Increases Stake in Gen Digital Inc. $GEN

Key Points

• National Pension Service increased its stake in Gen Digital by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, buying an additional 112,136 shares and bringing its total to 934,892 shares valued at about $25.4 million.
• Gen Digital reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.67 versus the $0.65 consensus 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 rate the stock a consensus “Hold” with an average price target of $31.29.

National Pension Service increased its holdings in Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN - Free Report) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 934,892 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 112,136 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.15% of Gen Digital worth $25,420,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GEN. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,703,712 shares of the company's stock valued at $71,757,000 after purchasing an additional 28,522 shares in the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gen Digital in the 1st quarter valued at $205,000. Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 37.8% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 27,590 shares of the company's stock valued at $732,000 after purchasing an additional 7,562 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 22,347 shares of the company's stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 1,980 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 221.5% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,717 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Gen Digital Price Performance

Shares of Gen Digital stock opened at $25.79 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $15.54 billion, a PE ratio of 16.32 and a beta of 1.20. Gen Digital Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.78 and a 12-month high of $32.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $20.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.63.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.02. Gen Digital had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 55.47%. The business 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 earned $0.59 EPS. The company's revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. 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. As a group, equities analysts expect that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.59 EPS for the current year.

Gen Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 18th. Gen Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Gen Digital from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Gen Digital from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of Gen Digital from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Gen Digital from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, May 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $31.29.

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.

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