Madison Asset Management LLC Takes $505,000 Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Madison Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 4,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $505,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 71.4% in the 4th quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 204 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Quattro Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 60.0% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC now owns 216 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $146.12 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $131.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $136.59. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $108.46 and a 52-week high of $157.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $181.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -54.73 and a beta of 0.32.

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

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is currently -122.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Daiwa Securities Group dropped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $161.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 15th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $157.00 to $156.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Twenty-four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.04.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Daniel Patrick O’day sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.31, for a total transaction of $1,954,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 592,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,160,851.23. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.02, for a total transaction of $725,100.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 10,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,459,771.32. This represents a 33.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 87,000 shares of company stock valued at $11,562,960 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.