Symantec Falls as Another Top Executive to Leave

Shares of Symantec fell Tuesday, after the security software maker said that its president of products and services is leaving next month.

Symantec Corp. said late Monday that Francis deSouza will depart on Dec. 1 to become president of Illumina Inc., a maker of genetic testing equipment. DeSouza worked at Symantec for seven years. Symantec said that its products and services team will now report to CEO Steve Bennett.

It’s the second major recent departure for Symantec, noted Raymond James analyst Michael Turits. James Beer, the former CFO, left in October to become CFO of health care services company McKesson.

“Symantec has emphasized that these departures are due to individual opportunities and not to a ‘change in strategy,’ ” Turits wrote in a note Monday. He said the company has also made some recent hires from major technology companies.

Turits maintained a “Market Perform” rating on the shares.

The stock fell 0.16 cents, or 0.69 percent, to $23.05 at the close. The stock had gained 23 percent this year.