Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Increases Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 43.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,118 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,506 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $2,011,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GILD. GoalVest Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 7,566.7% during the 2nd quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 230 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences during the second quarter worth $27,000. Putney Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 53.4% during the second quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC now owns 270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Kilter Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the second quarter worth about $33,000. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GILD shares. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Daiwa Capital Markets raised their target price on Gilead Sciences from $128.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. HSBC boosted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $147.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.20.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ GILD opened at $120.67 on Friday. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average is $123.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $117.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $149.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.33. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $88.57 and a fifty-two week high of $128.70.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.31. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 51.86% and a net margin of 27.88%.The business had revenue of $7.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.42 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.02 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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, research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 48.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.00, for a total value of $366,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 153,503 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,727,366. This represents a 1.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.86, for a total value of $3,524,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 107,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,491,310.98. The trade was a 20.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 136,257 shares of company stock worth $16,855,192 over the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Gilead Sciences Profile

Gilead Sciences, Inc, founded in 1987 and headquartered in Foster City, California, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of medicines in areas of high unmet medical need. The company initially built its reputation in antiviral therapies and has since expanded into oncology, cell therapy and inflammatory diseases. Gilead operates a global research and commercial organization, conducting clinical development and selling medicines in markets around the world.

Gilead’s product portfolio is anchored by antiviral therapies for HIV and viral hepatitis.