Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Purchases 9,061 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) by 218.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,201 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,061 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $1,479,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GILD. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,359 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,326,000 after purchasing an additional 2,450 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 27,921 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,579,000 after buying an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Sovran Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth about $506,000. Finally, Quent Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 42.5% in the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 2,717 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $251,000 after buying an additional 811 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.82, for a total transaction of $249,550.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,674 shares in the company, valued at $16,537,578.68. This represents a 1.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.52, for a total value of $3,010,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 121,152 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,026,263.04. This represents a 18.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 43,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,630,310. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GILD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer reduced their target price on Gilead Sciences from $132.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $108.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $110.55.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Gilead Sciences stock traded down $2.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $109.98. The company had a trading volume of 8,148,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,752,495. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market cap of $136.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 297.24, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a 50 day moving average of $105.54 and a 200-day moving average of $102.06. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.69 and a 52 week high of $119.96.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last released 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 business had revenue of $6.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.77 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 31.63%. The firm's revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($1.32) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.87%. Gilead Sciences's dividend payout ratio is currently 66.53%.

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.