Acuta Capital Partners LLC Acquires New Shares in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Acuta Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 19,500 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,635,000. Gilead Sciences makes up approximately 1.3% of Acuta Capital Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Kennedy Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 1st quarter valued at about $2,946,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.2% in the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 28,519 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,137,000 after purchasing an additional 604 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 16.2% in the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 89,515 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,557,000 after purchasing an additional 12,507 shares during the period. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its stake in Gilead Sciences by 127.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 213,901 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $15,668,000 after buying an additional 119,909 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 167.2% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 82,786 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,064,000 after buying an additional 51,801 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on GILD shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Gilead Sciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Maxim Group downgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.41.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

NASDAQ:GILD opened at $92.41 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $115.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,026.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.17. The business’s 50-day moving average is $87.91 and its 200 day moving average is $77.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.07 and a 12 month high of $98.90.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $7.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is currently 3,422.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total transaction of $2,341,485.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 99,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,113,308.50. This represents a 20.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total transaction of $620,355.32. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $815,198.80. The trade was a 43.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 63,735 shares of company stock valued at $5,589,030 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.