Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Benedict Financial Advisors Inc. reduced its position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,345 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 168 shares during the quarter. Benedict Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $1,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GILD. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 198.3% during the 2nd quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 358 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 51.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 5,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.98, for a total transaction of $406,150.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 114,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,506,146.42. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total value of $167,660.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 100,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,398,843.87. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 5,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.98, for a total value of $406,150.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 114,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,506,146.42. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 36,847 shares of company stock valued at $3,033,340 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Raymond James raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $93.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 4th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.85.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GILD traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $89.00. The company had a trading volume of 5,734,995 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,043,532. The stock has a market cap of $110.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 247.22, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.18. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $82.46 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $73.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.07 and a 12 month high of $89.74.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.40. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 3.79% and a return on equity of 29.34%. The firm had revenue of $6.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.64 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 855.56%.

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.