Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) Sets New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Gen Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:GEN)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $22.58 and last traded at $22.5850, with a volume of 4239811 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $23.79.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GEN has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Gen Digital in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Gen Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Gen Digital from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Gen Digital from $33.00 to $29.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Gen Digital from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gen Digital has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.43.

Gen Digital Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $26.53 and its 200 day moving average is $27.84. The firm has a market cap of $13.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.43, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

Gen Digital (NASDAQ:GEN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.22 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.20 billion. Gen Digital had a return on equity of 57.09% and a net margin of 12.74%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. Gen Digital has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.510-2.56 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.620-0.64 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Gen Digital Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Gen Digital Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 10th. Investors of record on Monday, November 17th were paid a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 17th. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Gen Digital’s payout ratio is presently 54.35%.

Insider Transactions at Gen Digital

In related news, Director Ondrej Vlcek sold 113,674 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.12, for a total transaction of $3,082,838.88. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,932,980 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $106,662,417.60. This trade represents a 2.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director John C. Chrystal acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $27.14 per share, for a total transaction of $135,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 28,419 shares in the company, valued at $771,291.66. This represents a 21.35% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 9.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. NewEdge Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Gen Digital during the fourth quarter valued at $259,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Gen Digital in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC bought a new position in Gen Digital during the 4th quarter valued at about $305,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 84.0% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 22,851 shares of the company’s stock valued at $621,000 after acquiring an additional 10,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Praxis Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Gen Digital by 108.2% during the fourth quarter. Praxis Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 9,636 shares during 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.