Wedmont Private Capital Increases Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 41.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 13,481 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,931 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $1,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,422 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $782,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 3.8% during the third quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 3,056 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. TFB Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.2% during the third quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 9,397 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $788,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, FDx Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. now owns 5,365 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $450,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.96, for a total transaction of $781,660.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 132,373 shares in the company, valued at $12,173,021.08. This represents a 6.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now owns 8,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $815,198.80. This represents a 43.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 453,734 shares of company stock worth $41,902,086 over the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD opened at $89.94 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $112.09 billion, a PE ratio of 999.33, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.18. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $91.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.54. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.07 and a 1-year high of $98.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 3,422.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GILD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research started coverage on Gilead Sciences in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.96.

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.