Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Gen Digital from a "buy" to a "hold", leaving the stock with a MarketBeat consensus rating of Hold and an average analyst target price of $31.86 (1 strong buy, 2 buy, 6 hold).
• Shares are trading around $19.04, well below the 52‑week high of $32.22 and the average target, with a market cap of about $11.5 billion and a P/E near 19.6.
• Gen Digital slightly beat Q1 EPS estimates ($0.64 vs. $0.63) with revenue up 25.8% year‑over‑year, and it set guidance of Q4 2026 EPS 0.640–0.660 and FY 2026 EPS 2.540–2.560.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

GEN has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Gen Digital in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Gen Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Gen Digital from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Gen Digital from $32.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Gen Digital in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gen Digital currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $31.86.

Gen Digital Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:GEN opened at $19.04 on Friday. The company's 50-day moving average price is $20.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.50, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47. Gen Digital has a one year low of $17.78 and a one year high of $32.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.53 billion, a PE ratio of 19.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.54 and a beta of 1.15.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.23 billion. Gen Digital had a net margin of 12.76% and a return on equity of 56.76%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 25.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.56 EPS. Gen Digital has set its Q4 2026 guidance at 0.640-0.660 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 2.540-2.560 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Gen Digital will post 2.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 38,275.3% during the 4th quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 194,563 shares of the company's stock worth $5,078,000 after acquiring an additional 194,056 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,213,797 shares of the company's stock worth $2,050,150,000 after acquiring an additional 964,046 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Gen Digital during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $8,238,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 525.5% during the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 83,826 shares of the company's stock worth $2,380,000 after acquiring an additional 70,424 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 481.8% during the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 462,830 shares of the company's stock worth $13,140,000 after acquiring an additional 383,279 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% 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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