Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) Downgraded to "Buy" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

GEN has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted 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 report on Wednesday, May 7th. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased 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 report on Wednesday, April 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gen Digital has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $30.00.

Gen Digital Stock Performance

Gen Digital stock traded down $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $29.94. The company had a trading volume of 3,005,442 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,750,705. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $28.70 and a 200 day moving average of $27.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market cap of $18.57 billion, a PE ratio of 28.79, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.01. Gen Digital has a one year low of $22.74 and a one year high of $31.72.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $999.48 million. Gen Digital had a return on equity of 59.38% and a net margin of 16.34%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Gen Digital will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Gen Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Investors of record on Monday, May 19th were given a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. Gen Digital's payout ratio is currently 48.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Nora Denzel sold 31,646 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.76, for a total transaction of $910,138.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 34,860 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,002,573.60. This represents a 47.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 12.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gen Digital

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Gen Digital by 117.6% during the 1st quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,580 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 854 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Gen Digital by 221.5% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,717 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183 shares during the last quarter. Tsfg LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gen Digital in the 1st quarter valued at $52,000. Rise Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 19.2% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 2,361 shares of the company's stock valued at $63,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC bought a new position in shares of Gen Digital in the 1st quarter valued at $85,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.