Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Shares Acquired by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,780,953 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 149,923 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned 0.14% of Gilead Sciences worth $149,385,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 79.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,162,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,780,329,000 after purchasing an additional 14,680,161 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 0.8% in 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 period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in 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 worth $714,421,000 after purchasing an additional 268,208 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 24.7% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,889,663 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $541,310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,564,792 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,752,975 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $650,009,000 after purchasing an additional 224,960 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of GILD stock opened at $94.02 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.26. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a one year low of $62.07 and a one year high of $98.90. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $88.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $117.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,044.67, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.18.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The business had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3,422.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total value of $15,094,275.12. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 80,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,427,227.92. This trade represents a 67.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 78,127 shares in the company, valued at $6,545,480.06. This represents a 27.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 227,946 shares of company stock valued at $20,683,305 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GILD shares. Leerink Partners upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $74.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.41.

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.