Traders Purchase Large Volume of Gilead Sciences Call Options (NASDAQ:GILD)

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Investors acquired 28,056 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 104% compared to the average daily volume of 13,758 call options.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.18, for a total transaction of $146,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 100,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,386,496.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GILD. Tompkins Financial Corp raised its stake in Gilead Sciences by 223.1% in the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 349 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of GILD stock traded up $1.21 on Monday, hitting $66.63. 3,102,365 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,419,574. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 185.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.19. The business has a 50-day moving average of $71.28 and a 200 day moving average of $76.25. Gilead Sciences has a fifty-two week low of $64.63 and a fifty-two week high of $87.86.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.32) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.49) by $0.17. The company had revenue of $6.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.36 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 24.34% and a net margin of 1.76%. Gilead Sciences’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.62%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 855.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on GILD. Mizuho cut their target price on Gilead Sciences from $101.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Friday, April 19th. HSBC raised Gilead Sciences from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $69.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.60.

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.