Saudi Central Bank Acquires 17,747 Shares of Gen Digital Inc. $GEN

Saudi Central Bank increased its holdings in shares of Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) by 91.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,096 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 17,747 shares during the quarter. Saudi Central Bank’s holdings in Gen Digital were worth $923,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 1.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,703,712 shares of the company’s stock worth $71,757,000 after acquiring an additional 28,522 shares during the last quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gen Digital during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Woodline Partners LP increased its position in Gen Digital by 37.8% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 27,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 7,562 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in Gen Digital by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 22,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $593,000 after purchasing an additional 1,980 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Gen Digital by 221.5% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Gen Digital Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of GEN stock opened at $29.76 on Thursday. Gen Digital Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.78 and a 1-year high of $31.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.00. The stock has a market cap of $17.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.30, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $28.06 and a 200-day moving average of $24.19.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.02. Gen Digital had a return on equity of 55.93% and a net margin of 20.73%.The company had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. Gen Digital has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.870-2.970 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 0.710-0.730 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Gen Digital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th were given a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Gen Digital’s payout ratio is 29.07%.

Insider Transactions at Gen Digital

In other news, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $6,000,000.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,332,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99,987,120. This represents a 5.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Travis Witteveen sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.42, for a total transaction of $882,600.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 496,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,608,353.90. This trade represents a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 558,508 shares of company stock worth $16,356,093. Company insiders own 9.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on GEN shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Gen Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Gen Digital from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings raised Gen Digital from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Gen Digital from $22.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Argus upgraded Gen Digital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.60.

Gen Digital Profile

Gen Digital Inc (NASDAQ: GEN) is a global cybersecurity and consumer safety company that provides products designed to help individuals and families protect their devices, online identities, personal information and digital privacy. The company serves customers through a portfolio of consumer-focused cybersecurity and privacy brands.

Its products and services include antivirus and device security, identity theft protection, virtual private networks, password management, online privacy tools, scam protection and family safety features.