Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA Makes New Investment in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 6,044 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $764,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 71.4% during the fourth quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 204 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Quattro Advisors LLC bought a new position in Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 60.0% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC now owns 216 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In other news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.64, for a total value of $3,853,920.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 118,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,273,727.76. This trade represents a 19.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 5,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.02, for a total transaction of $725,100.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 10,066 shares in the company, valued at $1,459,771.32. This trade represents a 33.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 87,000 shares of company stock valued at $11,562,960. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GILD. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Gilead Sciences from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 27th. HSBC raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $133.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Leerink Partners lowered shares of Gilead Sciences from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $146.00 to $127.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Twenty-four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.04.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of GILD stock opened at $146.74 on Tuesday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $108.46 and a fifty-two week high of $157.29. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $132.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $136.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company has a market cap of $181.95 billion, a PE ratio of -54.96 and a beta of 0.32.

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

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

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

Gilead Sciences Profile

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.