BLB&B Advisors LLC Purchases New Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

BLB&B Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 2,637 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 198.3% in the second quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 358 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 51.6% during the second quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total value of $2,459,529.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 78,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,545,480.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total transaction of $167,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 100,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,398,843.87. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total transaction of $2,459,529.46. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 78,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,545,480.06. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,847 shares of company stock valued at $3,033,340 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GILD. Leerink Partners raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Monday. Raymond James upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $93.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. Evercore ISI upgraded Gilead Sciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.85.

Gilead Sciences Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock opened at $87.23 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.68 billion, a PE ratio of 242.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.18. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.07 and a 52-week high of $88.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $6.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.64 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 3.79% and a return on equity of 29.34%. On average, analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is currently 855.56%.

Gilead Sciences Profile

Gilead Sciences, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes medicines in the areas of unmet medical need in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company provides Biktarvy, Genvoya, Descovy, Odefsey, Truvada, Complera/ Eviplera, Stribild, Sunlencs, and Atripla products for the treatment of HIV/AIDS; Veklury, an injection for intravenous use, for the treatment of COVID-19; and Epclusa, Harvoni, Vemlidy, and Viread for the treatment of viral hepatitis.