Hsbc Holdings PLC Invests $32.98 Million in Gen Digital Inc. $GEN

Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 1,324,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,976,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Gen Digital by 20.9% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont bought a new stake in shares of Gen Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Gen Digital by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 427 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Gen Digital by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 26,906 shares of the company’s stock worth $764,000 after buying an additional 428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake 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 worth $210,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Gen Digital

In other news, Director John C. Chrystal purchased 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $27.06 per share, with a total value of $81,180.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 31,419 shares in the company, 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 is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Travis Michael Witteveen sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.42, for a total value of $882,600.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 496,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,608,353.90. The trade was a 5.70% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 430,260 shares of company stock valued at $11,967,726 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 9.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on GEN shares. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Gen Digital from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings raised Gen Digital from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Gen Digital from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Gen Digital from $22.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Argus upgraded Gen Digital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. One equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gen Digital presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.67.

Gen Digital Stock Up 2.9%

GEN stock opened at $30.50 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $26.92 and a 200 day moving average of $23.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.26 billion, a PE ratio of 17.73 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.00. Gen Digital Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.78 and a 52 week high of $30.93.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.02. Gen Digital had a net margin of 20.73% and a return on equity of 55.93%. The company had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. Gen Digital’s revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Gen Digital has set its FY 2027 guidance at 2.870-2.970 EPS and its Q2 2027 guidance at 0.710-0.730 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Gen Digital Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. Gen Digital’s payout ratio is 29.07%.

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.