510,452 Shares in Gen Digital Inc. $GEN Bought by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 510,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,705,000. Empowered Funds LLC owned 0.09% of Gen Digital at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GEN. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Gen Digital by 20.9% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 2,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont purchased a new stake in Gen Digital in the second quarter worth about $32,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Gen Digital by 14.5% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,000 after purchasing an additional 427 shares during the period. Vident Advisory LLC increased its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 1.6% during the third quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 26,906 shares of the company’s stock valued at $764,000 after purchasing an additional 428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Gen Digital by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 7,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gen Digital Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of Gen Digital stock opened at $31.02 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.57 billion, a PE ratio of 18.03 and a beta of 1.21. Gen Digital Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.78 and a 52-week high of $31.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.00, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.69 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $1.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Gen Digital had a net margin of 20.73% and a return on equity of 55.93%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.64 earnings per share. 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 anticipate that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gen Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 17th. Gen Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.07%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on GEN shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Gen Digital from $22.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Barclays raised their price objective on Gen Digital from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen cut Gen Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 16th. Weiss Ratings raised Gen Digital from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Gen Digital from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gen Digital has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gen Digital

In other news, insider Travis Michael Witteveen sold 30,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider owned 496,545 shares in the company, valued at $14,608,353.90. The trade was a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director John C. Chrystal purchased 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $27.06 per share, for a total transaction of $81,180.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 31,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $850,198.14. This represents a 10.56% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders have sold 630,260 shares of company stock worth $17,967,726. Insiders own 9.70% of the company’s stock.

Gen Digital Company Profile

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.