Argent Advisors Inc. Boosts Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Argent Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,345 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 142 shares during the quarter. Argent Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $1,048,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bellevue Group AG boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 18.2% during the third quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 46,027 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,859,000 after buying an additional 7,093 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 149.5% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 81,620 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,843,000 after purchasing an additional 48,910 shares during the period. McAdam LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 25,372 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,344,000 after purchasing an additional 3,627 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 387,492 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $35,793,000 after purchasing an additional 9,791 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 142,167 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,132,000 after purchasing an additional 5,382 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GILD shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.52.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 142,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.22, for a total value of $13,822,739.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at $12,626,253.06. This represents a 52.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 302,785 shares of company stock worth $30,503,250 over the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock opened at $112.26 on Tuesday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a one year low of $62.07 and a one year high of $119.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.50. The company has a market capitalization of $139.80 billion, a PE ratio of 303.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.16.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 31.63%. Research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.81%. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is 854.05%.

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.