Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires New Stake in Gen Digital Inc. $GEN

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 37,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $815,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GEN. Grove Bank & Trust boosted its stake 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 valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 927 shares during the last quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in shares of Gen Digital by 86.9% during the second quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,921 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after buying an additional 893 shares in the last quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new stake in shares of Gen Digital during the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gen Digital in the second quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Gen Digital in the third quarter worth $47,000. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gen Digital Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GEN traded up $0.71 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $30.40. 4,675,916 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,983,006. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.61. Gen Digital Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.78 and a 52 week high of $31.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.24.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last issued its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $1.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. Gen Digital had a return on equity of 56.80% and a net margin of 23.07%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.62 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gen Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 16th. Gen Digital’s payout ratio is currently 25.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gen Digital 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 transaction of $892,500.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 466,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,879,713.75. This represents a 6.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Bryan Seuk Ko sold 28,248 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.67, for a total transaction of $866,366.16. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 744,262 shares in the company, valued at $22,826,515.54. This trade represents a 3.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 over the last 90 days. 9.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GEN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Gen Digital from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Gen Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings raised 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, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Gen Digital from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. 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 MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.20.

Gen Digital Company Profile

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.