70,716 Shares in Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) Acquired by Banque Cantonale Vaudoise

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise purchased a new stake in shares of Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 70,716 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,877,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GEN. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Gen Digital by 132.2% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 599,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,039,000 after buying an additional 341,533 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. increased its stake 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. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC purchased a new stake in Gen Digital in the first quarter worth $377,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 98.8% in the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 52.4% in the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 11,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 3,830 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gen Digital Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of GEN stock opened at $29.84 on Thursday. 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 $18.51 billion, a PE ratio of 28.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50-day moving average of $29.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.75. Gen Digital Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.74 and a 1-year high of $31.72.

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

Gen Digital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Gen Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GEN has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI began coverage on Gen Digital in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Gen Digital from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. B. Riley started coverage on shares of Gen Digital in a research report on Monday, July 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $46.00 target price for the company. 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Gen Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.60.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Nora Denzel sold 31,646 shares of Gen Digital stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the director directly 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 accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 12.20% 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.