Dearborn Partners LLC Purchases Shares of 69,875 Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Dearborn Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 69,875 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,738,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,887 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $477,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 7,724 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $948,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Davidson Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 4.1% during the first quarter. Davidson Trust Co. now owns 1,879 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $262,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 6,619 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $812,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 30.2% in the first quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 328 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Daniel Patrick O’day sold 15,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.31, for a total value of $1,954,650.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 592,133 shares in the company, valued at $77,160,851.23. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.36, for a total transaction of $415,080.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 165,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,918,780.56. The trade was a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 87,000 shares of company stock worth $11,562,960 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 0.4%

NASDAQ GILD opened at $146.74 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.95 billion, a PE ratio of -54.96 and a beta of 0.32. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $108.46 and a 1 year high of $157.29. The business’s 50-day moving average is $132.42 and its 200 day moving average is $136.57.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($6.75) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($7.25) by $0.50. The company had revenue of $7.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.40 billion. Gilead Sciences had a negative return on equity of 2.11% and a negative net margin of 10.64%.Gilead Sciences’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.01 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post -0.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is -122.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GILD. Leerink Partners lowered Gilead Sciences from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $146.00 to $127.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Daiwa Securities Group decreased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $161.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. HSBC upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $133.00 to $155.00 in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn dropped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $170.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Twenty-four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.04.

About Gilead Sciences

Gilead Sciences, Inc, founded in 1987 and headquartered in Foster City, California, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of medicines in areas of high unmet medical need. The company initially built its reputation in antiviral therapies and has since expanded into oncology, cell therapy and inflammatory diseases. Gilead operates a global research and commercial organization, conducting clinical development and selling medicines in markets around the world.

Gilead’s product portfolio is anchored by antiviral therapies for HIV and viral hepatitis.