Heartland Bank & Trust Co Makes New $848,000 Investment in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Heartland Bank & Trust Co acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 6,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $848,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GILD. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new position in Gilead Sciences during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 71.4% during the 4th quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 204 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Quattro Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 60.0% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC now owns 216 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.64, for a total transaction of $3,853,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 118,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,273,727.76. The trade was a 19.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Daniel Patrick O’day sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.31, for a total transaction of $1,954,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 592,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $77,160,851.23. The trade was a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 87,000 shares of company stock worth $11,562,960. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on GILD shares. Maxim Group upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $165.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Daiwa Securities Group reduced their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $161.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $157.00 to $156.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Twenty-four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.04.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

NASDAQ GILD opened at $146.12 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $181.18 billion, a PE ratio of -54.73 and a beta of 0.32. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $108.46 and a 52 week high of $157.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $131.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $136.59.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($6.75) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($7.25) by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $7.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.40 billion. Gilead Sciences had a negative net margin of 10.64% and a negative return on equity of 2.11%. The company’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.01 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post -0.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is -122.85%.

About Gilead Sciences

Gilead Sciences, Inc, founded in 1987 and headquartered in Foster City, California, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of medicines in areas of high unmet medical need. The company initially built its reputation in antiviral therapies and has since expanded into oncology, cell therapy and inflammatory diseases. Gilead operates a global research and commercial organization, conducting clinical development and selling medicines in markets around the world.

Gilead’s product portfolio is anchored by antiviral therapies for HIV and viral hepatitis.