Fluent Financial LLC Raises Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Key Points

• Fluent Financial LLC has increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 55.5% during the 2nd quarter, now owning approximately $4.45 million worth of shares, making it the company's 14th largest holding.
• Recent insider sales included Johanna Mercier selling 3,000 shares and CEO Daniel Patrick O'day selling 10,000 shares, indicating a slight decrease in both their positions.
• Gilead Sciences reported a quarterly revenue of $7.08 billion, exceeding estimates, and has set its FY 2025 earnings guidance at between $7.950 and $8.250 EPS.

Fluent Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) by 55.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 40,148 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,326 shares during the period. Gilead Sciences makes up 1.8% of Fluent Financial LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Fluent Financial LLC's holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $4,451,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2,837.5% in the first 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 stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Colonial Trust Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 304.3% in the first 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 first 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.57, for a total value of $340,710.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 113,193 shares in the company, valued at $12,855,329.01. This trade represents a 2.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel Patrick O'day sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.66, for a total value of $1,116,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 591,203 shares in the company, valued at $66,013,726.98. This trade represents a 1.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 82,000 shares of company stock valued at $9,402,130. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Gilead Sciences stock opened at $118.25 on Thursday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.17 and a 1 year high of $121.83. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $114.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.12. The company has a market cap of $146.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.56, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.32.

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

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on GILD shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $136.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $128.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded Gilead Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $108.00 to $127.00 in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $117.67.

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.

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