UP Strategic Wealth Investment Advisors LLC Purchases New Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

UP Strategic Wealth Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 4,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $619,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 71.4% in the 4th quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 204 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Quattro Advisors LLC bought a new position in Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 60.0% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC now owns 216 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.92, for a total value of $371,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 124,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,395,077.28. The trade was a 2.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Daniel Patrick O’day sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.46, for a total value of $1,971,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 617,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $81,185,357.82. This trade represents a 2.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 51,000 shares of company stock valued at $6,568,860. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock opened at $138.92 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $130.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market cap of $172.25 billion, a PE ratio of -52.03 and a beta of 0.32. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $108.46 and a 52-week high of $157.29.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($6.75) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($7.25) by $0.50. The business had revenue of $7.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.40 billion. Gilead Sciences had a negative return on equity of 2.11% and a negative net margin of 10.64%.Gilead Sciences’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.01 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post -0.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is -122.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on GILD shares. Maxim Group raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $165.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. HSBC raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $133.00 to $155.00 in a report on Monday, July 6th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Leerink Partners downgraded Gilead Sciences from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $146.00 to $127.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $170.00 to $167.00 in a report on Monday, May 11th. Twenty-four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.04.

About Gilead Sciences

Gilead Sciences, Inc, founded in 1987 and headquartered in Foster City, California, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of medicines in areas of high unmet medical need. The company initially built its reputation in antiviral therapies and has since expanded into oncology, cell therapy and inflammatory diseases. Gilead operates a global research and commercial organization, conducting clinical development and selling medicines in markets around the world.

Gilead’s product portfolio is anchored by antiviral therapies for HIV and viral hepatitis.