Alta Advisers Ltd Raises Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Alta Advisers Ltd increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) by 57.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,592 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,400 shares during the quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd's holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $739,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 158.8% during the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 352 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 33.3% during the first quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 400 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on GILD. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $110.55.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of GILD traded up $0.86 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $111.73. 7,675,787 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,677,823. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $106.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.56. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a twelve month low of $66.01 and a twelve month high of $119.96. The company has a market cap of $138.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.52, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.29.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.04. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 20.76% and a return on equity of 51.93%. The firm had revenue of $6.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.32) EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 13th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. Gilead Sciences's dividend payout ratio is 66.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In related news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.52, for a total transaction of $3,010,560.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 121,152 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,026,263.04. This trade represents a 18.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel Patrick O'day sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.42, for a total transaction of $1,104,200.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 620,268 shares of the company's stock, valued at $68,489,992.56. This represents a 1.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 48,500 shares of company stock worth $5,236,245 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

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.