Gen Digital Inc. $GEN Stock Sold by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. cut its holdings in Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) by 21.7% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 82,252 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,764 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Gen Digital were worth $1,818,000 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. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Gen Digital by 45.8% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 13,094,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,567,000 after acquiring an additional 4,115,676 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Gen Digital during the second quarter worth $225,169,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new stake in Gen Digital in the second quarter worth $146,639,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Gen Digital in the second quarter worth $108,421,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Gen Digital in the second quarter valued at $62,004,000. 81.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gen Digital

In other news, insider Travis Witteveen sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.75, for a total value of $892,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 466,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,879,713.75. This represents a 6.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Bryan Seuk Ko sold 28,248 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.67, for a total value of $866,366.16. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 744,262 shares in the company, valued at $22,826,515.54. The trade was a 3.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 558,508 shares of company stock valued at $16,365,993 in the last three months. Company insiders own 9.70% of the company’s stock.

Gen Digital Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of Gen Digital stock opened at $30.64 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.24. Gen Digital Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.78 and a 52-week high of $31.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.57.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.02. Gen Digital had a return on equity of 56.80% and a net margin of 23.07%. The business had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.62 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.65 EPS for the current year.

Gen Digital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 16th will be issued a $0.1250 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 16th. Gen Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 25.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on GEN shares. Barclays upped their price target on Gen Digital from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price 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. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Gen Digital from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 4th. Argus boosted their target price on shares of Gen Digital from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Gen Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.20.

About Gen Digital

Gen Digital Inc. is a global cybersecurity company that provides digital safety and identity protection services to consumers and small businesses. Its products include antivirus and malware protection, virtual private networks, password managers, scam protection, and identity monitoring and recovery services. The company offers services through brands including Norton, Avast, LifeLock, Avira, AVG, and CCleaner. Its products are available in markets around the world through direct subscriptions and other distribution channels.