Howard Capital Management LLC Purchases 247,925 Shares of Gen Digital Inc. $GEN

Howard Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 247,925 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,459,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Michael J. Porro & Co. Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Gen Digital during the 3rd quarter valued at about $395,000. Ninety One UK Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Gen Digital in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 37.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 6,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 38,455 shares of the company’s stock worth $847,000 after purchasing an additional 3,588 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Gen Digital by 12.6% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 13,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $295,000 after purchasing an additional 1,496 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.38% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on GEN shares. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Gen Digital from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Wall Street Zen cut Gen Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Gen Digital from $22.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Barclays lifted their target price on Gen Digital from $27.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Gen Digital from $26.00 to $24.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gen Digital

In other news, insider Travis Witteveen sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $14,608,353.90. This represents a 5.70% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 200,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $6,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,332,904 shares in the company, valued at $99,987,120. This represents a 5.66% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 558,508 shares of company stock worth $16,356,093 over the last ninety days. 9.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Gen Digital Stock Down 2.7%

Shares of GEN traded down $0.66 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $24.16. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,995,593 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,758,016. The company has a 50 day moving average of $27.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 0.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.00. The firm has a market cap of $14.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 1.26. Gen Digital Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.78 and a 1-year high of $31.65.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.69 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Gen Digital had a return on equity of 55.93% and a net margin of 20.73%. Gen Digital’s quarterly revenue was up 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $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. As a group, research analysts predict that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gen Digital Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 9th. Investors of record on Monday, August 17th were paid a $0.1250 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 17th. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Gen Digital’s payout ratio is presently 29.07%.

Gen Digital Company Profile

Gen Digital Inc is a global cybersecurity and digital safety company that provides products and services designed to help consumers protect their devices, online privacy, personal information and digital identities. Its offerings include antivirus and malware protection, online privacy tools, identity theft protection, password management, scam and fraud protection, and utilities that support device performance and security.

The company markets its products under a portfolio of well-known brands, including Norton, Avast, LifeLock, Avira, AVG, ReputationDefender and CCleaner.