Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) Cut to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. Barclays cut their target price on Gen Digital from $33.00 to $32.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Gen Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Zacks Research upgraded Gen Digital from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Gen Digital in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Gen Digital in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.71.

Gen Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ GEN opened at $21.02 on Friday. Gen Digital has a twelve month low of $20.15 and a twelve month high of $32.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.50. The stock has a market cap of $12.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.67, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $23.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.87.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The company reported $0.64 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.23 billion. Gen Digital had a net margin of 12.76% and a return on equity of 56.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. 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. As a group, research analysts forecast that Gen Digital will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gen Digital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 16th were issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 13th. Gen Digital’s payout ratio is presently 51.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gen Digital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in Gen Digital by 38.5% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 7,151 shares of the company’s stock worth $194,000 after purchasing an additional 1,989 shares in the last quarter. PeakShares LLC acquired a new stake in Gen Digital in the 4th quarter valued at about $228,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 184,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,016,000 after acquiring an additional 32,886 shares during the last quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Gen Digital by 33.7% during the fourth quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 17,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $484,000 after purchasing an additional 4,479 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Compound Planning Inc. grew its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Compound Planning Inc. now owns 13,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,541 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gen Digital Company Profile

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.