Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) Hits New 1-Year High - What's Next?

Key Points

• Gen Digital Inc. shares reached a new 52-week high of $31.74, signaling strong market performance with a trading volume of over 1.9 million shares.
• Several analysts have modified their target prices for Gen Digital; Barclays and Royal Bank Of Canada raised theirs to $33.00, while Wells Fargo increased its target to $40.00.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.125, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.6%, with a dividend payout ratio of 51.55%.

Shares of Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $31.74 and last traded at $31.60, with a volume of 1942762 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.77.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Gen Digital from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Gen Digital from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Gen Digital from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Gen Digital from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of Gen Digital in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $46.00 target price for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $35.33.

Gen Digital Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.63, a current ratio of 0.50 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.86. The company has a market cap of $19.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.84, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.00.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $1.26 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.19 billion. Gen Digital had a net margin of 14.12% and a return on equity of 57.99%. Gen Digital's quarterly revenue was up 30.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.53 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gen Digital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 10th. Investors of record on Monday, August 18th will be given a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 18th. Gen Digital's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gen Digital news, Director Nora Denzel sold 31,646 shares of Gen Digital stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.76, for a total transaction of $910,138.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 34,860 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,002,573.60. This trade represents a 47.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 9.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gen Digital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Gen Digital by 2.2% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 71,249,751 shares of the company's stock worth $2,094,743,000 after purchasing an additional 1,558,983 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in Gen Digital by 3.8% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 21,067,048 shares of the company's stock worth $559,126,000 after purchasing an additional 768,652 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Gen Digital by 0.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,253,089 shares of the company's stock worth $449,507,000 after purchasing an additional 101,791 shares during the period. Boston Partners increased its position in Gen Digital by 37.3% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 13,358,167 shares of the company's stock worth $354,456,000 after purchasing an additional 3,631,052 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Gen Digital by 43.6% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 12,270,615 shares of the company's stock worth $325,662,000 after purchasing an additional 3,724,211 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Gen Digital

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.

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