Quent Capital LLC Purchases 811 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Quent Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 42.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,717 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 811 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $251,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 118.5% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 284 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 101.9% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of GILD opened at $103.31 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,147.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.18. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.07 and a twelve month high of $104.71. The company has a 50 day moving average of $93.14 and a 200-day moving average of $87.12. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is presently 3,422.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total transaction of $15,094,275.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 80,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,427,227.92. The trade was a 67.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total transaction of $228,375.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,863,898.55. This trade represents a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 572,824 shares of company stock worth $53,611,715. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $74.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.04.

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.