Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD)

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) was the target of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock investors purchased 34,453 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 137% compared to the average volume of 14,531 call options.

Insider Activity

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total value of $228,375.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,863,898.55. This represents a 1.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold 311,285 shares of company stock worth $31,284,910 over the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 118.5% in the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 284 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 325.0% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 340 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Down 1.7 %

GILD stock opened at $111.44 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $138.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 301.19, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.71. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Gilead Sciences has a twelve month low of $62.07 and a twelve month high of $119.96.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Gilead Sciences will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is 854.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on GILD. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. DZ Bank raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price 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. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.52.

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.