L2 Asset Management LLC Acquires New Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

L2 Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of 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 64,505 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,150,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GILD. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,887 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $477,000 after buying an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 7,724 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $948,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Davidson Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 4.1% in the 1st quarter. Davidson Trust Co. now owns 1,879 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 6,619 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $812,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 30.2% during the 1st quarter. Financial Connections Group Inc. now owns 328 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gilead Sciences news, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 5,000 shares of Gilead Sciences 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 directly owned 10,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,459,771.32. The trade was a 33.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Daniel Patrick O’day sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.31, for a total value of $1,954,650.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 592,133 shares in the company, valued at $77,160,851.23. This trade represents a 2.47% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 87,000 shares of company stock valued at $11,562,960. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. 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. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Maxim Group upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $165.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, HSBC raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $133.00 to $155.00 in a report on Monday, July 6th. Twenty-four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.04.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:GILD opened at $146.74 on Tuesday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a one year low of $108.46 and a one year high of $157.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $181.95 billion, a PE ratio of -54.96 and a beta of 0.32. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $132.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.57.

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

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

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

Gilead Sciences Company Profile

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.