Sovran Advisors LLC Purchases New Shares in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 5,560 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $506,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bellevue Group AG increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 18.2% during the third quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 46,027 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,859,000 after acquiring an additional 7,093 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 149.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 81,620 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,843,000 after purchasing an additional 48,910 shares in the last quarter. McAdam LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 25,372 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,344,000 after buying an additional 3,627 shares during the period. IRON Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the third quarter valued at approximately $830,000. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 387,492 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $35,793,000 after acquiring an additional 9,791 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 7.5 %

GILD stock opened at $103.31 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.26. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a one year low of $62.07 and a one year high of $104.71. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $93.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.12. The company has a market capitalization of $128.75 billion, a PE ratio of 1,147.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.18.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. As a group, analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.79 dividend. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 3,422.22%.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total transaction of $228,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,863,898.55. This represents a 1.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total transaction of $620,355.32. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $815,198.80. This represents a 43.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 572,824 shares of company stock worth $53,611,715. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on GILD shares. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.04.

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.