Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD)

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders purchased 28,056 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 104% compared to the typical daily volume of 13,758 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GILD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. HSBC raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $69.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $74.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $101.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $91.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.60.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of GILD opened at $65.94 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $82.10 billion, a PE ratio of 183.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.19. Gilead Sciences has a 1-year low of $64.63 and a 1-year high of $87.86. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $71.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.17.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.32) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.37 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 855.56%.

Insider Activity

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.18, for a total transaction of $146,360.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 100,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,386,496.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 83,364,123 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,753,350,000 after acquiring an additional 1,642,736 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 59,657,126 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,832,824,000 after purchasing an additional 1,743,418 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,630,134 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,509,227,000 after buying an additional 2,350,550 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 0.9% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,909,619 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,267,207,000 after buying an additional 158,794 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,301,624,000. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.