XML Financial LLC Invests $203,000 in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

XML Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 2,194 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $203,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GILD. Genesis Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $362,000. Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 6,120 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $565,000 after acquiring an additional 1,214 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 45.2% in the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 6,779 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $626,000 after acquiring an additional 2,111 shares in the last quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 376,047 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $34,735,000 after purchasing an additional 53,617 shares during the period. Finally, Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 36.7% during the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 8,312 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $768,000 after purchasing an additional 2,231 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 248,645 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.76, for a total value of $23,064,310.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 138,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,886,126.44. This trade represents a 64.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total transaction of $2,341,485.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 99,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,113,308.50. This represents a 20.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 456,234 shares of company stock worth $42,130,461. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

GILD opened at $92.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.63. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.07 and a 1 year high of $98.90. The company has a market capitalization of $115.80 billion, a PE ratio of 1,032.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.18.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.44. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The company had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. Gilead Sciences’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3,422.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Gilead Sciences in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Truist Financial upped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $83.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $87.00 to $113.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $84.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Citigroup initiated 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. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.96.

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.