Kestra Investment Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Kestra Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 683.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,949 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 9,551 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $1,214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GILD. Rexford Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 2nd quarter valued at about $696,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 16.4% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 24,072 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,669,000 after buying an additional 3,393 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 108.9% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 6,025 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $668,000 after buying an additional 3,141 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 2,227,558 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $247,158,000 after buying an additional 31,793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 44 Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. 44 Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,923 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $324,000 after buying an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GILD. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $147.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $143.00 to $153.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gilead Sciences news, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 5,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.08, for a total value of $625,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,115,713.60. The trade was a 35.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kelly A. Kramer sold 2,805 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.10, for a total transaction of $356,515.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,339 shares in the company, valued at $170,186.90. This represents a 67.69% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 130,257 shares of company stock valued at $15,991,492. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 2.3%

NASDAQ GILD opened at $120.40 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.67, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $121.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.81. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $88.57 and a 12 month high of $128.70.

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

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.99%.

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.