Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Acquires 263,264 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 451.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 321,621 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 263,264 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $26,055,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GILD. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Tompkins Financial Corp raised its stake in Gilead Sciences by 223.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 349 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total transaction 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 $7,026,339.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ GILD traded down $0.18 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $65.33. The company had a trading volume of 5,566,474 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,454,676. The business’s 50-day moving average is $70.87 and its 200-day moving average is $76.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market cap of $81.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 181.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.22. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $64.63 and a 52 week high of $87.86.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.32) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.49) by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $6.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.36 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 24.34%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 855.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on GILD. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 27th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.69.

About Gilead Sciences

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.