Jeffrey Bluestone Sells 5,000 Shares of Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Stock

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.08, for a total transaction of $625,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 8,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,115,713.60. The trade was a 35.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Gilead Sciences stock opened at $123.91 on Wednesday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1-year low of $88.57 and a 1-year high of $128.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $153.73 billion, a PE ratio of 19.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.32. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $120.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $115.02.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.31. The firm had revenue of $7.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.42 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 27.88% and a return on equity of 51.86%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.050-8.250 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is presently 48.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Activest Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2,837.5% in the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 235 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 7,566.7% in the second quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 230 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares during the period. Corundum Trust Company INC purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Putney Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 53.4% during the 2nd quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC now owns 270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.65.

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.