Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Takes Position in Gen Digital Inc. $GEN

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 153,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,824,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Gen Digital during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Grove Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 452.2% during the 2nd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 927 shares during the period. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new position in Gen Digital in the first quarter valued at approximately $41,000. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Gen Digital by 65.8% during the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 221.5% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,717 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,183 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Gen Digital from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. 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. Argus upgraded Gen Digital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Gen Digital from $22.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Gen Digital from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.60.

Gen Digital Price Performance

GEN stock opened at $31.33 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.00. The firm has a market cap of $18.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.22, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.98. Gen Digital Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.78 and a 12-month high of $31.65.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 55.93% and a net margin of 20.73%.The firm had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. 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. On average, analysts expect that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Gen Digital Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Gen Digital’s dividend payout ratio is 29.07%.

Insider Transactions at Gen Digital

In other news, insider Travis Witteveen sold 30,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.42, for a total value of $882,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 496,545 shares in the company, valued at $14,608,353.90. This trade represents a 5.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $6,000,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,332,904 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $99,987,120. This represents a 5.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 630,260 shares of company stock worth $17,967,726 in the last three months. Insiders own 9.70% of the company’s stock.

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.