Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Raises Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 241.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 77,080 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 54,526 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $8,556,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GILD. Corundum Trust Company INC acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. MTM Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 176.0% during the 3rd quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC now owns 276 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares during the last quarter. Kilter Group LLC purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 58.7% during the third quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC now owns 319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GILD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. HSBC lifted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $140.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Twenty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.72.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

GILD stock opened at $144.08 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $178.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.37. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12-month low of $93.37 and a 12-month high of $157.29. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $138.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $125.75.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 28.90% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.450-8.850 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is presently 46.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.43, for a total transaction of $463,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 167,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,910,110.97. The trade was a 1.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel Patrick O’day sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.79, for a total value of $1,447,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 642,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,999,775.32. This represents a 1.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 309,280 shares of company stock valued at $43,935,470 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

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.