Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Takes $2.23 Million Position in Gen Digital Inc. $GEN

Key Points

• Rakuten Investment Management acquired 88,928 Gen Digital shares worth approximately $2.23 million during the second quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds now own 81.38% of the company.
• Gen Digital exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.71 in EPS and $1.34 billion in revenue, with revenue up 6.3% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.125 per share, yielding approximately 1.6% annually.
• Analysts maintain a consensus “Hold” rating with a $31.67 price target, while Gen Digital shares opened at $31.02 near their 52-week high. Insiders have sold 630,260 shares worth nearly $18 million over the past three months.

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 88,928 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,227,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Gen Digital in the second quarter valued at approximately $12,705,000. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Gen Digital during the second quarter worth approximately $523,000. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Gen Digital during the second quarter worth approximately $1,733,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Gen Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,824,000. Finally, Redwood Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gen Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,166,000. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GEN has been the subject of several research reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Gen Digital from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Gen Digital from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Argus raised Gen Digital to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded Gen Digital from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, August 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Gen Digital from $22.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $31.67.

Gen Digital Stock Performance

Shares of GEN stock opened at $31.02 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.00. Gen Digital Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.78 and a fifty-two week high of $31.29. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $27.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.80. The stock has a market cap of $18.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.03 and a beta of 1.21.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.02. Gen Digital had a net margin of 20.73% and a return on equity of 55.93%. The company had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.64 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Gen Digital has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.870-2.970 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 0.710-0.730 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.64 EPS for the current year.

Gen Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Gen Digital's dividend payout ratio is currently 29.07%.

Insider Activity at Gen Digital

In other Gen Digital news, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 200,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $6,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,332,904 shares of the company's stock, valued at $99,987,120. This trade represents a 5.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Travis Michael Witteveen sold 30,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.42, for a total value of $882,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 496,545 shares in the company, valued at $14,608,353.90. This trade represents a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 630,260 shares of company stock worth $17,967,726. Corporate insiders own 9.70% of the company's stock.

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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