Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC Boosts Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 18.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 46,645 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 7,257 shares during the quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $3,779,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GILD. Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 179.0% during the 3rd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,543,985 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $340,526,000 after buying an additional 2,915,141 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 89.0% during the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 3,764,107 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $304,930,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772,887 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth about $133,584,000. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth about $63,971,000. Finally, Bailard Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 9,100.7% during the third quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 722,345 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $54,133,000 after purchasing an additional 714,494 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on GILD. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $78.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.60.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total transaction of $145,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 96,304 shares in the company, valued at $7,026,339.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock opened at $65.20 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The company has a market cap of $81.18 billion, a PE ratio of 181.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.19. The business has a 50 day moving average of $71.03 and a 200 day moving average of $76.08. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $64.63 and a 52 week high of $87.86.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.32) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.49) by $0.17. The company had revenue of $6.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.36 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 24.34% and a net margin of 1.76%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 3.79 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.72%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 855.56%.

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, 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.