Gen Digital Inc. $GEN Position Lifted by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 72,213,797 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 964,046 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 0.12% of Gen Digital worth $2,050,150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Amundi grew its stake in Gen Digital by 273.3% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 4,303,552 shares of the company’s stock worth $128,289,000 after purchasing an additional 3,150,651 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Gen Digital by 82.7% during the 2nd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 4,497,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $132,227,000 after buying an additional 2,035,925 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Gen Digital by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 22,473,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,730,000 after acquiring an additional 1,406,869 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Gen Digital by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 15,899,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $467,436,000 after acquiring an additional 1,088,983 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new stake in shares of Gen Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,220,000. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 113,674 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.12, for a total value of $3,082,838.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,932,980 shares in the company, valued at $106,662,417.60. This represents a 2.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 9.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Gen Digital Price Performance

NASDAQ GEN opened at $22.34 on Friday. Gen Digital Inc. has a 52 week low of $22.14 and a 52 week high of $32.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.50. The stock has a market cap of $13.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $25.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.27.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. Gen Digital had a return on equity of 56.76% and a net margin of 12.76%.The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 25.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Analysts forecast that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.05 EPS for the current year.

Gen Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Investors of record on Monday, February 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 13th. Gen Digital’s payout ratio is currently 51.55%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GEN. Barclays reduced their price objective on Gen Digital from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Evercore increased their target price on shares of Gen Digital from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Gen Digital in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Gen Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, February 8th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Gen Digital from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $35.29.

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.