Benjamin Edwards Inc. Increases Stock Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 1,940.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 365,820 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 347,895 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $30,672,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GILD. Atom Investors LP bought a new position in Gilead Sciences in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,085,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. bought a new position in Gilead Sciences during the third quarter valued at about $2,389,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the third quarter worth about $210,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the third quarter worth about $34,267,000. Finally, Bellevue Group AG boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 18.2% in the third quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 46,027 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,859,000 after acquiring an additional 7,093 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GILD shares. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group upped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total transaction of $620,355.32. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $815,198.80. The trade was a 43.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total value of $15,094,275.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 80,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,427,227.92. This trade represents a 67.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 227,946 shares of company stock worth $20,683,305 over the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock opened at $92.58 on Monday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $88.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $115.38 billion, a PE ratio of 1,028.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.17. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.07 and a 12-month high of $98.90.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.44. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. The business had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3,422.22%.

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.