Occidental Asset Management LLC Acquires 3,980 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Occidental Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 38,616 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 3,980 shares during the period. Occidental Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $3,567,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 101.9% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 51.6% during the second quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on GILD shares. Maxim Group downgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded Gilead Sciences from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $87.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 price objective 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 data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.96.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total value of $620,355.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $815,198.80. This trade represents a 43.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total transaction of $2,341,485.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 99,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,113,308.50. This trade represents a 20.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 456,234 shares of company stock valued at $42,130,461. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Gilead Sciences stock opened at $91.65 on Friday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.07 and a 1-year high of $98.90. The company’s 50-day moving average is $91.97 and its 200 day moving average is $83.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,018.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. The firm had revenue of $7.55 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3,422.22%.

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.