Renaissance Technologies LLC Boosts Position in Gen Digital Inc. $GEN

Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) by 341.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,044,438 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 808,000 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 0.17% of Gen Digital worth $19,667,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GEN. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 45.8% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 13,094,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,567,000 after purchasing an additional 4,115,676 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Gen Digital by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 19,941,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $542,211,000 after acquiring an additional 3,640,451 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in Gen Digital in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $70,248,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 167.2% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,328,737 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,508,000 after purchasing an additional 2,082,850 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 15,644,289 shares of the company’s stock valued at $425,336,000 after purchasing an additional 1,954,712 shares during the period. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on GEN. Argus upgraded shares of Gen Digital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Weiss Ratings raised Gen Digital from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered Gen Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Gen Digital from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $27.00 target price on shares of Gen Digital in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $29.33.

Gen Digital Trading Down 1.2%

NASDAQ GEN opened at $27.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a current ratio of 0.40. Gen Digital Inc. has a one year low of $17.78 and a one year high of $32.22. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.34 billion, a PE ratio of 17.27 and a beta of 1.21.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.02. Gen Digital had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 55.47%. The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.59 earnings per share. Gen Digital’s quarterly revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. Gen Digital has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 0.680-0.700 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 2.850-2.950 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Gen Digital Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Investors of record on Monday, May 18th were issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 18th. Gen Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.65%.

Insider Activity

In other Gen Digital news, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.78, for a total transaction of $2,478,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,832,724 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $94,974,900.72. The trade was a 2.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director John C. Chrystal bought 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was purchased 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 SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Company insiders own 9.30% 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.