Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Raises Stock Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 121.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,301 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,038 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $1,690,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GILD. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 118.5% during the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 284 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 325.0% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 340 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 137,676 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.22, for a total value of $14,073,240.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 171,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,502,415.06. The trade was a 44.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 160,605 shares of company stock worth $16,718,136. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GILD. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $132.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.55.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $102.81 on Tuesday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.07 and a 1 year high of $119.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 277.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.26. The company’s 50-day moving average is $108.54 and its 200 day moving average is $99.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.20.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.04. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. The firm had revenue of $6.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.32) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.07%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.53%.

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.