Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Boosts Holdings in Gen Digital Inc. $GEN

Key Points

• Pictet Asset Management increased its Gen Digital stake by 26.8% in the first quarter, buying more than 1.1 million shares and bringing its position to 5.27 million shares valued at about $99.2 million.
• Gen Digital reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.67 versus $0.65 expected and revenue of $1.28 billion versus $1.25 billion expected, while revenue rose 27% year over year.
• The company paid a quarterly dividend of $0.125 per share, equal to a 2.0% annualized yield, and analysts currently have a consensus Hold rating on the stock.

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in shares of Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN - Free Report) by 26.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,272,058 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 1,115,390 shares during the quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned 0.87% of Gen Digital worth $99,212,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 194,056 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Gen Digital by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,155,639 shares of the company's stock worth $30,128,000 after acquiring an additional 102,345 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Gen Digital by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 9,085,216 shares of the company's stock valued at $247,027,000 after acquiring an additional 334,156 shares during the period. LBP AM SA lifted its holdings in Gen Digital by 63.7% in the fourth quarter. LBP AM SA now owns 738,272 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,074,000 after acquiring an additional 287,369 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of Gen Digital by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 934,892 shares of the company's stock worth $25,420,000 after purchasing an additional 112,136 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company's stock.

Gen Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GEN opened at $24.45 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. The company has a market capitalization of $14.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.47 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $23.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.39. Gen Digital Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.78 and a twelve month high of $32.22.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN - Get Free Report) last released 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 business had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. The company's quarterly 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, research analysts expect that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gen Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 18th were given a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada upped 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 downgraded shares of Gen Digital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, June 20th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Gen Digital from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Gen Digital from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Gen Digital in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $22.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Gen Digital presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gen Digital

In related news, Director John C. Chrystal acquired 3,000 shares of Gen Digital stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $27.06 per share, for a total transaction of $81,180.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 31,419 shares of the company's stock, valued at $850,198.14. The trade was a 10.56% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.78, for a total transaction of $2,478,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,832,724 shares of the company's stock, valued at $94,974,900.72. The trade was a 2.54% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 9.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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