Capital Investment Counsel LLC Lowers Stock Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Key Points

• Capital Investment Counsel LLC reduced its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 5.5%, owning 52,789 shares valued at approximately $5.9 million after selling 3,053 shares in the 1st quarter.
• A number of analysts have raised price targets for Gilead Sciences, with UBS setting a new target of $112, while Needham set theirs at $133, indicating positive market sentiment for the company.
• Gilead Sciences announced a quarterly dividend of $0.79 per share to be paid on September 29, representing an annualized yield of 2.8% and a payout ratio of 62.95%.

Capital Investment Counsel LLC reduced its position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) by 5.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 52,789 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 3,053 shares during the period. Capital Investment Counsel LLC's holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $5,915,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GILD. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2,837.5% in the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 235 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Colonial Trust Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 304.3% in the 1st quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors now owns 283 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Finally, Core Alternative Capital lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 370.8% in the 1st quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 306 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock traded up $2.28 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $115.05. 6,953,644 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,536,983. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $78.26 and a 1 year high of $121.83. The company has a market capitalization of $142.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.36. The business has a fifty day moving average of $113.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $109.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.05. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 21.86% and a return on equity of 50.99%. The business had revenue of $7.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.01 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.950-8.250 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Gilead Sciences's dividend payout ratio is presently 62.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CEO Daniel Patrick O'day sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.63, for a total transaction of $1,136,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 595,725 shares of the company's stock, valued at $67,692,231.75. This represents a 1.65% 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, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.74, for a total transaction of $548,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 8,920 shares of the company's stock, valued at $978,880.80. This represents a 35.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 82,000 shares of company stock worth $9,371,330 over the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Truist Financial raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $108.00 to $127.00 in a report on Friday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $133.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $128.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Daiwa America raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $115.39.

Gilead Sciences 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.