Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD Shares Acquired by Welch Group LLC

Welch Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 29.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,883 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 876 shares during the quarter. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $431,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2,837.5% in the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 235 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Colonial Trust Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 304.3% in the 1st quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors now owns 283 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. Finally, Core Alternative Capital grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 370.8% in the first quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 306 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.57, for a total value of $283,925.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 159,555 shares in the company, valued at $18,120,661.35. This trade represents a 1.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 3,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.57, for a total transaction of $340,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 113,193 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,855,329.01. This trade represents a 2.58% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 77,000 shares of company stock valued at $8,853,430. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GILD has been the topic of several research reports. Needham & Company LLC raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $133.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $129.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Dbs Bank upgraded Gilead Sciences to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $118.08.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

GILD stock opened at $117.18 on Monday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $84.17 and a 52-week high of $121.83. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $114.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $110.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $145.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.34.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.05. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 50.99% and a net margin of 21.86%.The business had revenue of $7.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.01 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.950-8.250 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th were given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.95%.

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.