Avestar Capital LLC Increases Stock Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Avestar Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 28.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,935 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 1,534 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $581,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 79.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,162,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,780,329,000 after acquiring an additional 14,680,161 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,414,268 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $851,743,000 after purchasing an additional 93,068 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,412,413 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $714,421,000 after purchasing an additional 268,208 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 24.7% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,889,663 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $541,310,000 after buying an additional 1,564,792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,752,975 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $650,009,000 after buying an additional 224,960 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $91.35 on Wednesday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.07 and a fifty-two week high of $98.90. The stock has a market cap of $113.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,015.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.17. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. The company’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.37 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3,422.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on GILD shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Barclays increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.41.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total value of $2,459,529.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 78,127 shares in the company, valued at $6,545,480.06. The trade was a 27.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total value of $2,341,485.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 99,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,113,308.50. This represents a 20.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,947 shares of company stock worth $4,968,674 in the last quarter. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.