Avestar Capital LLC Purchases 1,362 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Avestar Capital LLC boosted its position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 19.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,297 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 1,362 shares during the quarter. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $766,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,422 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $782,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Southland Equity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 3,128 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 3.8% during the third quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 3,056 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Berkshire Bank increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TFB Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.2% in the third quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 9,397 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $788,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Mizuho increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded Gilead Sciences to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.33.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In related news, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total transaction of $620,355.32. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,920 shares in the company, valued at $815,198.80. The trade was a 43.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 248,645 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.76, for a total value of $23,064,310.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 138,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,886,126.44. This represents a 64.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 710,500 shares of company stock worth $67,684,956. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of GILD stock opened at $105.96 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.24. The company has a market cap of $132.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,177.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.07 and a twelve month high of $106.43.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is presently 3,422.22%.

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.