Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Buys 494 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 7.8% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,842 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $574,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 0.7% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 17,822 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,494,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.9% during the third quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,249 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the period. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.9% during the third quarter. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,035 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $599,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Wagner Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.7% during the third quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,026 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $673,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Institute for Wealth Management LLC. lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.9% during the second quarter. Institute for Wealth Management LLC. now owns 7,551 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $518,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock traded down $0.38 on Wednesday, reaching $87.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 946,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,032,516. The company has a market capitalization of $109.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 244.89, a PEG 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 $88.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $81.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $73.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

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

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 855.56%.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 78,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,545,480.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total transaction of $2,459,529.46. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total value of $167,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 100,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,398,843.87. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. 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 research firms recently commented on GILD. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Monday, September 16th. Leerink Partners raised Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $74.00 to $96.00 in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.85.

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.