Balefire LLC Invests $484,000 in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Balefire LLC bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 4,364 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $484,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Berkshire Bank boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 7.5% in the second quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 4,062 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $450,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 38.8% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 622 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $69,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares during the last quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc grew its stake in Gilead Sciences by 16.3% during the 2nd quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 2,163 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $240,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the second quarter worth $284,000. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 6.2% in the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 304,060 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,711,000 after buying an additional 17,748 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gilead Sciences news, CEO Daniel Patrick O’day sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.63, for a total value of $1,136,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 595,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,692,231.75. This represents a 1.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.53, for a total value of $3,318,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 114,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,532,333.04. This represents a 19.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 82,000 shares of company stock worth $9,390,030 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD opened at $112.26 on Thursday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $81.83 and a 1 year high of $121.83. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $114.03 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company has a market capitalization of $139.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.36.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $7.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.95 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 21.86% and a return on equity of 50.99%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.01 EPS. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.950-8.250 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GILD. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $136.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 12th. Daiwa America upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $128.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $133.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.17.

About Gilead Sciences

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.