Sterling Investment Counsel LLC Buys 494 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Sterling Investment Counsel LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 7.8% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,842 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $574,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GILD. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 26.4% in the 1st quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 11,603 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $850,000 after buying an additional 2,426 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 751.1% in the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 127,258 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,322,000 after buying an additional 112,305 shares during the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the first quarter valued at about $161,000. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 4.8% during the first quarter. Matrix Asset Advisors Inc. NY now owns 311,545 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $22,821,000 after purchasing an additional 14,200 shares during the period. Finally, DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 13.1% during the first quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 8,809 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $645,000 after purchasing an additional 1,021 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total transaction of $167,660.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 100,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,398,843.87. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total value of $2,459,529.46. Following the sale, the insider now owns 78,127 shares in the company, valued at $6,545,480.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 100,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,398,843.87. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 36,847 shares of company stock worth $3,033,340. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. Raymond James upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $93.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.85.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GILD traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $87.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 946,207 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,032,516. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.07 and a 12-month high of $88.36. The stock has a market cap of $109.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 244.89, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $81.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $73.07.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.40. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 3.79% and a return on equity of 29.34%. The company had revenue of $6.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.64 billion. On average, equities analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 855.56%.

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.