Prospera Private Wealth LLC Raises Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Prospera Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 18.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 15,144 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 2,407 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $1,270,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GILD. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences in the second quarter worth about $25,328,000. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 0.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,414,268 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $851,743,000 after purchasing an additional 93,068 shares in the last quarter. IRON Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the third quarter worth approximately $830,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 13.1% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 286,116 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $19,630,000 after purchasing an additional 33,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 127.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 213,901 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $15,668,000 after purchasing an additional 119,909 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GILD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In related news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of Gilead Sciences 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 78,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,545,480.06. This trade represents a 27.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total value of $167,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 100,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,947 shares of company stock worth $4,968,674. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

NASDAQ GILD opened at $87.75 on Wednesday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.07 and a 12-month high of $98.90. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $86.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $109.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 975.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.17.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. The company had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. Gilead Sciences’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. Analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3,422.22%.

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.