Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Gen Digital Inc. has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from analysts, with a price objective of $33.60.
• The company reported a quarterly EPS of $0.59, exceeding estimates, and a revenue of $1.01 billion, marking a 4.4% year-over-year increase.
• Institutional investors hold about 81.38% of Gen Digital's stock, with notable increases in holdings from firms like Vanguard and Ameriprise in the first quarter.

Shares of Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seven brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $33.60.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Gen Digital from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Gen Digital from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Gen Digital from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Gen Digital from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of Gen Digital in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. They set an "outperform" rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gen Digital news, Director Nora Denzel sold 31,646 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.76, for a total transaction of $910,138.96. Following the sale, the director owned 34,860 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,002,573.60. The trade was a 47.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 12.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GEN. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Gen Digital during the fourth quarter worth $14,367,000. QSM Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Gen Digital during the fourth quarter worth $5,373,000. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Gen Digital by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 25,212 shares of the company's stock worth $690,000 after buying an additional 1,299 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Gen Digital by 98.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 114,699 shares of the company's stock worth $3,140,000 after buying an additional 56,993 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kera Capital Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Gen Digital by 41.7% during the first quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 11,777 shares of the company's stock worth $313,000 after buying an additional 3,466 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gen Digital Stock Down 0.5%

NASDAQ:GEN traded down $0.15 on Friday, hitting $30.37. The stock had a trading volume of 651,644 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,111,458. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market cap of $18.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.01. Gen Digital has a 1 year low of $22.74 and a 1 year high of $31.72. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $29.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.71.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $999.48 million. Gen Digital had a net margin of 16.34% and a return on equity of 59.38%. Gen Digital's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. Analysts predict that Gen Digital will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Gen Digital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were paid a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.65%. Gen Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.08%.

Gen Digital Company 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.