Cerity Partners LLC Increases Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 24.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 253,872 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,604 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $21,285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GILD. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,328,000. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 0.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,414,268 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $851,743,000 after acquiring an additional 93,068 shares in the last quarter. IRON Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the 3rd quarter worth about $830,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 13.1% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 286,116 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $19,630,000 after buying an additional 33,162 shares during the period. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 127.6% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 213,901 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $15,668,000 after buying an additional 119,909 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of GILD opened at $90.19 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $87.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,002.11, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.07 and a twelve month high of $98.90.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. The firm had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Daiwa America upgraded Gilead Sciences to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $83.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. 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 report on Thursday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.41.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total transaction of $2,459,529.46. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 78,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,545,480.06. The trade was a 27.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total transaction of $167,660.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 100,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,398,843.87. The trade was a 1.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,947 shares of company stock valued at $4,968,674 in the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.