Bank of Nova Scotia Buys New Stake in Gen Digital Inc. $GEN

Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new stake in Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 51,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,281,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of GEN. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gen Digital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Grove Bank & Trust grew its position in 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 purchasing an additional 927 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont acquired a new position in Gen Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in Gen Digital during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 65.8% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 1,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Gen Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target 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 Gen Digital from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Gen Digital from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $31.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gen Digital 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 transaction of $882,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 496,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,608,353.90. The trade was a 5.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John C. Chrystal purchased 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $27.06 per share, with a total value of $81,180.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 31,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $850,198.14. The trade was a 10.56% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders have sold 277,902 shares of company stock valued at $7,549,344 in the last ninety days. 9.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Gen Digital Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GEN opened at $29.64 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $17.74 billion, a PE ratio of 17.23 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.00, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a current ratio of 0.47. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $26.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.71. Gen Digital Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.78 and a 1 year high of $30.93.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last posted its 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 return on equity of 55.93% and a net margin of 20.73%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. 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, research analysts predict that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Gen Digital Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 17th will be paid a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, August 17th. Gen Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 29.07%.

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.