Meridian Wealth Management LLC Invests $3.56 Million in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 42,449 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,559,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GILD. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,422 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $782,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Concord Asset Management LLC VA raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 3,056 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. TFB Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 9,397 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $788,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 17,822 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,494,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, FDx Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. now owns 5,365 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $450,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Daiwa America raised Gilead Sciences to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total transaction of $2,459,529.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 78,127 shares in the company, valued at $6,545,480.06. This trade represents a 27.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total value of $167,660.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 100,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,398,843.87. This represents a 1.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 56,947 shares of company stock worth $4,968,674. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock opened at $90.19 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,002.11, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.17. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.07 and a fifty-two week high of $98.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $87.43 and a 200 day moving average of $76.79.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. The company had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 3,422.22%.

Gilead Sciences Company 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.