Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC Acquires 271 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 10,811 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the period. Sound View Wealth Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $999,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GILD. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 1.2% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,422 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $782,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Southland Equity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 3,128 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Concord Asset Management LLC VA boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 3,056 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Bank increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 3,398 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FDx Advisors Inc. raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 2.2% during the third quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. now owns 5,365 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $450,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.09, for a total transaction of $260,225.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 169,061 shares in the company, valued at $17,597,559.49. The trade was a 1.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 293,356 shares of company stock worth $29,166,240. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GILD shares. Mizuho raised their target price on Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.24.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 1.2 %

GILD opened at $117.41 on Monday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.07 and a twelve month high of $118.42. The company has a fifty day moving average of $99.61 and a 200-day moving average of $91.62. The stock has a market cap of $146.22 billion, a PE ratio of 317.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.69%. Gilead Sciences’s 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.