United Asset Strategies Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

United Asset Strategies Inc. lessened its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 2.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 29,916 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 874 shares during the period. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $3,352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the first quarter worth $29,000. Colonial Trust Advisors increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 304.3% in the first quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors now owns 283 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 213 shares during the period. Core Alternative Capital raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 370.8% during the 1st quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 306 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In related news, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.74, for a total value of $548,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,920 shares in the company, valued at $978,880.80. This trade represents a 35.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.53, for a total transaction of $296,325.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 160,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,977,838.30. This trade represents a 1.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 82,000 shares of company stock worth $9,339,230 in the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $128.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group raised their target price on Gilead Sciences from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Daiwa America upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $108.00 to $127.00 in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.39.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

GILD stock opened at $118.73 on Thursday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $74.80 and a 1 year high of $121.83. The company has a market cap of $147.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.65, a PEG ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $112.33 and a 200 day moving average of $108.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.05. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 50.99% and a net margin of 21.86%.The business had revenue of $7.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.01 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.950-8.250 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.95%.

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.