Aprio Wealth Management LLC Increases Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Aprio Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 124.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,766 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 4,310 shares during the quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $717,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Gilead Sciences by 101.9% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Gilead Sciences by 51.6% during the second quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences during the third quarter worth approximately $50,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GILD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $109.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.96.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total value of $15,094,275.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 80,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,427,227.92. This represents a 67.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 248,645 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.76, for a total transaction of $23,064,310.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 138,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,886,126.44. This represents a 64.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 453,734 shares of company stock valued at $41,902,086 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD opened at $89.88 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.07 and a fifty-two week high of $98.90. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.39. The company has a market cap of $112.01 billion, a PE ratio of 998.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.18.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.44. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The business had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.