Westpac Banking Corp Boosts Stock Position in Gen Digital Inc. $GEN

Westpac Banking Corp boosted its position in shares of Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) by 5,410.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 157,865 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 155,000 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp’s holdings in Gen Digital were worth $4,641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aviva PLC grew its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 6.6% during the second quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 407,156 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,970,000 after purchasing an additional 25,315 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Gen Digital during the 2nd quarter worth about $394,000. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gen Digital in the 1st quarter valued at about $5,732,000. First Hawaiian Bank raised its position in shares of Gen Digital by 129.6% during the 1st quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 75,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,998,000 after acquiring an additional 42,488 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. lifted its stake in Gen Digital by 15.5% during the second quarter. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. now owns 170,049 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,999,000 after purchasing an additional 22,884 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on GEN. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Gen Digital in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Gen Digital from $32.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Gen Digital from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Gen Digital from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Gen Digital in a research report on Friday, October 3rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John C. Chrystal acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $27.14 per share, for a total transaction of $135,700.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 28,419 shares in the company, valued at $771,291.66. This represents a 21.35% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 9.30% of the company’s stock.

Gen Digital Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GEN opened at $26.70 on Friday. Gen Digital Inc. has a one year low of $22.74 and a one year high of $32.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.53, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.63, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.50.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.61 by $0.01. Gen Digital had a return on equity of 57.99% and a net margin of 14.12%.The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.3% on a year-over-year basis. Gen Digital has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.510-2.56 EPS. Q3 2026 guidance at 0.620-0.64 EPS. 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 will be paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 17th will be paid a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 17th. Gen Digital’s payout ratio is currently 54.35%.

Gen Digital 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.