Investors Purchase High Volume of Put Options on Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD)

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 42,588 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 240% compared to the average volume of 12,513 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GILD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Barclays lowered their price target on Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 12th. Truist Financial downgraded Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $91.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Mizuho decreased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $101.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $78.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.87.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total value of $145,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,026,339.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of GILD. Tompkins Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 223.1% in the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 349 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the third quarter worth $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of GILD opened at $65.42 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $71.28 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.43. Gilead Sciences has a one year low of $64.63 and a one year high of $87.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.54, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.19.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.49) by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $6.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.36 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 38.85% and a net margin of 20.89%. Gilead Sciences’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.71%. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.44%.

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.