Verity & Verity LLC Has $34.93 Million Stock Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Verity & Verity LLC raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 378,102 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 10,771 shares during the period. Gilead Sciences comprises 3.2% of Verity & Verity LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Verity & Verity LLC's holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $34,925,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GILD. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.2% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,422 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $782,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.8% during the third quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 3,056 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.2% during the third quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 9,397 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $788,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 0.7% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 17,822 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,494,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FDx Advisors Inc. increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 2.2% in the third quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. now owns 5,365 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $450,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company's stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 0.2 %

GILD traded up $0.19 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $91.84. The company had a trading volume of 6,852,085 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,370,915. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $91.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $84.08. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.07 and a 52 week high of $98.90. The company has a market capitalization of $114.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,020.44, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.18. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.44. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. The business had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. Gilead Sciences's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3,422.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on GILD. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Daiwa America raised Gilead Sciences to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $97.96.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 248,645 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.76, for a total transaction of $23,064,310.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 138,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,886,126.44. The trade was a 64.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total transaction of $2,341,485.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 99,599 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,113,308.50. This trade represents a 20.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 456,234 shares of company stock valued at $42,130,461. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

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.