Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Has $1.04 Million Stock Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. lowered its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 7.7% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 9,251 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 769 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $1,037,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Redwood Financial Network Corp grew its stake in Gilead Sciences by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 2,530 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Gilead Sciences by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,580 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Peak Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Gilead Sciences by 1.7% during the first quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,040 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $677,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Perkins Coie Trust Co grew its stake in Gilead Sciences by 2.6% in the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 3,880 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $435,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. grew its stake in Gilead Sciences by 33.3% in the first quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 400 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.17, for a total transaction of $330,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 120,168 shares in the company, valued at $13,238,908.56. The trade was a 2.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.40, for a total value of $266,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 168,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,893,713.60. The trade was a 1.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 48,500 shares of company stock worth $5,236,245. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of GILD opened at $105.93 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $131.77 billion, a PE ratio of 22.30, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.29. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $106.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $103.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.23. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $66.01 and a 1 year high of $119.96.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 51.93% and a net margin of 20.76%. The business’s revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.32) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.53%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GILD shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Gilead Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $110.55.

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.