Avestar Capital LLC Raises Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Avestar Capital LLC lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 31.1% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 18,114 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,296 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $2,008,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 227 shares during the period. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Putney Financial Group LLC grew its stake in Gilead Sciences by 53.4% in the second quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC now owns 270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Colonial Trust Advisors increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 304.3% during the 1st quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors now owns 283 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on GILD. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Daiwa America raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $143.00 to $153.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.65.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

GILD stock opened at $121.22 on Friday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a one year low of $88.57 and a one year high of $128.70. The firm has a market cap of $150.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.79, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.45. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $120.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $115.25.

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

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Gilead Sciences news, 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 value 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. This trade represents a 35.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kelly A. Kramer sold 2,805 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.10, for a total value of $356,515.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 1,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $170,186.90. This represents a 67.69% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 135,757 shares of company stock worth $16,616,127. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Company Profile

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.