Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) Stock Price Up 0.5% - Here's What Happened

Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN - Get Free Report) was up 0.5% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $29.80 and last traded at $29.06. Approximately 4,545,468 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 16% from the average daily volume of 3,920,902 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.91.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on GEN shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target 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. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gen Digital has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $27.50.

Gen Digital Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $17.76 billion, a PE ratio of 28.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.35. The business's 50 day moving average is $26.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.63.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $999.48 million. Gen Digital had a net margin of 16.32% and a return on equity of 58.83%. Gen Digital's revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gen Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 19th. Gen Digital's dividend payout ratio is currently 48.08%.

Institutional Trading of Gen Digital

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GEN. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Gen Digital by 19.2% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 2,361 shares of the company's stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV raised its stake in Gen Digital by 0.6% in the first quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 69,927 shares of the company's stock worth $1,856,000 after buying an additional 427 shares in the last quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Gen Digital by 1.5% in the first quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 31,540 shares of the company's stock worth $837,000 after buying an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust grew its holdings in Gen Digital by 3.9% in the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 18,001 shares of the company's stock worth $478,000 after purchasing an additional 668 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in Gen Digital by 26.6% in the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 3,730 shares of the company's stock worth $99,000 after purchasing an additional 783 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company's stock.

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.