Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) Upgraded by Wells Fargo & Company to Hold Rating

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on GEN. Barclays dropped their price target 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 boosted their target price on Gen Digital from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Gen Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, February 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Gen Digital from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Gen Digital in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gen Digital currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.71.

Gen Digital Trading Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:GEN opened at $22.40 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.50, a current ratio of 0.47 and a quick ratio of 0.47. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.78. Gen Digital has a fifty-two week low of $21.33 and a fifty-two week high of $32.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.57 billion, a PE ratio of 23.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.11.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last announced its 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. Gen Digital had a net margin of 12.76% and a return on equity of 56.76%. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.8% on a year-over-year basis. 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Gen Digital will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gen Digital Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 113,674 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director directly owned 3,932,980 shares in the company, valued at approximately $106,662,417.60. This trade represents a 2.81% decrease in their position. The sale 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.

Institutional Trading of Gen Digital

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Gen Digital in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 92.0% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Gen Digital by 1,183.3% in the third quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 1,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 994 shares during the period. Clearstead Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 48.6% during the 3rd quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 65.8% during the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 611 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.