Meitav Investment House Ltd. Raises Stock Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Meitav Investment House Ltd. boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 44.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,409 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 1,348 shares during the period. Meitav Investment House Ltd.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $336,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,856 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $159,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Intercontinental Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Intercontinental Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,458 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,694 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $439,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC now owns 4,703 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $390,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 6,570 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $545,000 after buying an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.33% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 1,501 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.99, for a total transaction of $115,561.99. Following the sale, the insider now owns 70,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,399,308.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 1,501 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.99, for a total transaction of $115,561.99. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 70,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,399,308.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $400,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 104,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,320,240. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on GILD. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating for the company. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $84.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 8th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 24th. Leerink Partnrs reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, October 11th. Finally, Bank of America raised Gilead Sciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research note on Friday, September 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $88.22.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of GILD opened at $75.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.34. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $76.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.30. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.87 and a fifty-two week high of $89.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.01 billion, a PE ratio of 16.19, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.32.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.38. The company had revenue of $7.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.81 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 21.45% and a return on equity of 39.30%. Gilead Sciences’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 6.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 28th. Investors of record on Friday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 14th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is currently 64.38%.

Gilead Sciences 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, and Atripla products for the treatment of HIV/AIDS; Veklury, an injection for intravenous use, for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019; and Epclusa, Harvoni, Vosevi, Vemlidy, and Viread for the treatment of viral hepatitis.