Gen Digital Inc. $GEN Shares Sold by First Trust Advisors LP

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its holdings in Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) by 25.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 14,808,943 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,132,603 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Gen Digital were worth $278,852,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Gen Digital by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 16,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $441,000 after buying an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 20.9% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB increased its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 22.9% in the fourth quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 2,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Gen Digital by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 26,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $764,000 after acquiring an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Gen Digital by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gen Digital Trading Down 2.0%

Gen Digital stock opened at $25.58 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $25.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $23.22. Gen Digital Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.78 and a 52 week high of $32.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.19 and a beta of 1.21.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. Gen Digital had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 55.47%. The company had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. Gen Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.680-0.700 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 2.850-2.950 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.61 EPS for the current year.

Gen Digital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Gen Digital’s payout ratio is currently 31.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GEN shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Gen Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th. Barclays boosted their target price on Gen Digital from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $27.00 price target on shares of Gen Digital in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Gen Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Gen Digital from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Gen Digital currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gen Digital news, Director John C. Chrystal acquired 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $27.06 per share, for a total transaction of $81,180.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 31,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $850,198.14. The trade was a 10.56% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.78, for a total value of $2,478,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,832,724 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $94,974,900.72. The trade was a 2.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 9.30% of the company’s stock.

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.