Brokerages Set Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) PT at $33.60

Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $33.60.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GEN. Evercore ISI began coverage on Gen Digital in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Gen Digital from $27.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Gen Digital from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Barclays raised their target price on Gen Digital from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Gen Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th.

Insider Transactions at Gen Digital

In other Gen Digital news, Director Nora Denzel sold 31,646 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.76, for a total transaction of $910,138.96. Following the transaction, the director owned 34,860 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,002,573.60. This represents a 47.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 12.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gen Digital

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Gen Digital by 3.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 69,690,768 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,849,593,000 after buying an additional 2,513,464 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Gen Digital by 3.8% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 21,067,048 shares of the company’s stock worth $559,126,000 after buying an additional 768,652 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in Gen Digital by 37.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 13,358,167 shares of the company’s stock worth $354,456,000 after buying an additional 3,631,052 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in Gen Digital by 43.6% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 12,270,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $325,662,000 after buying an additional 3,724,211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Gen Digital during the first quarter worth approximately $299,562,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Gen Digital Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of GEN stock opened at $29.84 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.51, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.51 billion, a PE ratio of 28.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.01. Gen Digital has a fifty-two week low of $22.74 and a fifty-two week high of $31.72.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $999.48 million. Gen Digital had a return on equity of 59.38% and a net margin of 16.34%. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.53 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Gen Digital will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Gen Digital Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 19th were given a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 19th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.68%. Gen Digital’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.08%.

Gen Digital Company Profile

Gen Digital Inc engages in the provision of cyber safety solutions for consumers in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Japan. The company offers security and performance products under Norton, Avast, Avira, AVG, and CCleaner brands that provide real-time protection and maintenance for PCs, Macs, and mobile devices against malware, viruses, adware, and other online threats.