Essex Financial Services Inc. Purchases 1,162 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 34.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,504 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,162 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $309,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 114,732,575 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,404,161,000 after acquiring an additional 2,910,147 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.4% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 84,497,404 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,189,435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133,281 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.7% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 61,246,366 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,486,296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,589,240 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,630,134 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,509,227,000 after buying an additional 2,350,550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth $1,301,624,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GILD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Friday, August 9th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Gilead Sciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $93.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.94.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of GILD opened at $79.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.07 and a 1-year high of $87.86. The company has a market capitalization of $98.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 219.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.18. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $73.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.35.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.40. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 3.79% and a return on equity of 29.34%. The company had revenue of $6.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.64 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.90%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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 Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.63, for a total value of $137,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,614,559.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.63, for a total value of $137,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 96,380 shares in the company, valued at $6,614,559.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 5,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.98, for a total transaction of $406,150.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 114,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,506,146.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Gilead Sciences Company Profile

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.