Kovack Advisors Inc. Decreases Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Kovack Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 47.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,115 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 3,680 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $461,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northern Financial Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 130.2% during the first quarter. Northern Financial Advisors Inc now owns 9,122 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 5,160 shares during the last quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 521.8% in the first quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP now owns 34,581 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,875,000 after buying an additional 29,020 shares during the last quarter. IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Madison Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 20.0% in the first quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 4,800 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $538,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 7.3% in the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,852 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $320,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 2.7%

Gilead Sciences stock opened at $116.20 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.29. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.43 and a fifty-two week high of $119.96. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $109.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.88.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.04. The company 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%. Gilead Sciences’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.32) earnings per share. Analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.03, for a total value of $277,575.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 162,610 shares in the company, valued at $18,054,588.30. This represents a 1.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.03, for a total value of $333,090.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 117,168 shares in the company, valued at $13,009,163.04. This represents a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 72,000 shares of company stock worth $7,844,775 over the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GILD shares. 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 boosted 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. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on 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, Needham & Company LLC upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $133.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.36.

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.