Here’s our Pick of the Month

Article Excerpt

SYMANTEC CORP. $30.12 (Nasdaq symbol SYMC; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (650-527-8000; www.symantec.com; Shares outstanding: 618.8 million; Market cap: $19.4 billion; Dividend yield: 1.0%) sells computer-security technology, including antivirus and email-filtering software, to businesses and consumers. Last year, the company bought Blue Coat for $4.65 billion. That firm makes products to protect clients from cyberattacks through their websites and networks. Blue Coat has also emerged as a leader in security for cloud computing: it serves over 15,000 businesses. The new operations give Symantec a big marketing and research edge over competitors Palo Alto Networks, FireEye and Check Point Software. As well, Blue Coat’s CEO Greg Clark has now taken over at Symantec. Thanks to this purchase, the company’s revenue in its fiscal 2017 fourth quarter, ended March 31, 2017, jumped 27.7%, to $1.1 billion from $873 million a year earlier. Symantec’s per-share earnings rose 27.3%, to $0.28 from $0.22. The company recently completed its acquisition of LifeLock Inc. (New York symbol LOCK) for $2.3 billion. That…