Sanctuary Advisors LLC Raises Position in Gen Digital Inc. $GEN

Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) by 246.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 26,685 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,975 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC’s holdings in Gen Digital were worth $502,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GEN. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Gen Digital by 16.1% during the 1st quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 29,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $557,000 after buying an additional 4,100 shares during the period. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. boosted its stake in Gen Digital by 2.1% during the first quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 35,538 shares of the company’s stock worth $669,000 after buying an additional 723 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG boosted its stake in Gen Digital by 9.6% during the first quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 37,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $708,000 after buying an additional 3,281 shares during the period. Lifeworks Advisors LLC increased its position in Gen Digital by 16.3% during the first quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 234,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,412,000 after acquiring an additional 32,891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp increased its position in Gen Digital by 1,246.0% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 163,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,069,000 after acquiring an additional 150,894 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Gen Digital Trading Up 3.1%

GEN opened at $27.58 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $25.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.22. The company has a market capitalization of $16.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.46 and a beta of 1.21. Gen Digital Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.78 and a 52 week high of $32.22.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. Gen Digital had a return on equity of 55.47% and a net margin of 19.46%.The business had revenue of $1.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 27.0% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. Analysts forecast that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Gen Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were paid a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. Gen Digital’s dividend payout ratio is 31.65%.

Insider Transactions at Gen Digital

In other Gen Digital news, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.78, for a total transaction of $2,478,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,832,724 shares in the company, valued at $94,974,900.72. This represents a 2.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John C. Chrystal bought 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $27.06 per share, for a total transaction of $81,180.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 31,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $850,198.14. This trade represents a 10.56% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 9.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.