Gilead Sciences Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:GILD)

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors bought 42,588 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 240% compared to the average volume of 12,513 put options.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD traded down $1.53 during trading on Thursday, reaching $65.55. The stock had a trading volume of 4,851,889 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,281,077. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $71.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market cap of $81.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.98, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.19. Gilead Sciences has a fifty-two week low of $65.32 and a fifty-two week high of $87.86.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.04). Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 38.85% and a net margin of 20.89%. The company had revenue of $7.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.67 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences will post 5.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.70%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is 68.44%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on GILD shares. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $91.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. HSBC raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $69.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total value of $145,920.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,304 shares in the company, valued at $7,026,339.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GILD. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth approximately $210,000. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in Gilead Sciences by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,787,355 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $306,814,000 after buying an additional 175,925 shares during the period. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth approximately $74,000. Abundance Wealth Counselors purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the third quarter worth approximately $1,881,000. Finally, HTLF Bank purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth approximately $253,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Company 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.