Gen Digital Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:GEN)

Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Investors acquired 8,314 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 1,154% compared to the average volume of 663 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GEN. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Gen Digital from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Gen Digital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Gen Digital in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $22.00 price objective on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded Gen Digital from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Gen Digital from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.29.

Gen Digital Price Performance

Shares of Gen Digital stock traded up $0.07 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $24.41. The stock had a trading volume of 4,637,231 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,943,036. The firm has a market cap of $14.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40 and a beta of 1.10. Gen Digital has a 12 month low of $17.78 and a 12 month high of $32.22. The business’s 50-day moving average is $20.23 and its 200 day moving average is $23.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $1.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.25 billion. Gen Digital had a net margin of 19.46% and a return on equity of 55.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 27.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 earnings per share. 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. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Gen Digital will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Gen Digital Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 18th will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 18th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Gen Digital’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 31.65%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gen Digital

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GEN. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Gen Digital by 45.8% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 13,094,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,567,000 after purchasing an additional 4,115,676 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Gen Digital by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 19,941,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $542,211,000 after purchasing an additional 3,640,451 shares in the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in Gen Digital during the fourth quarter valued at about $70,248,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its position in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its position in Gen Digital by 14.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.38% 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.