Synovus Financial Corp Boosts Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 99.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 37,265 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,592 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $3,124,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bellevue Group AG lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 18.2% during the 3rd quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 46,027 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,859,000 after acquiring an additional 7,093 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 149.5% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 81,620 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,843,000 after purchasing an additional 48,910 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 0.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,414,268 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $851,743,000 after purchasing an additional 93,068 shares in the last quarter. IRON Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the third quarter valued at approximately $830,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 12.9% in the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 323,011 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,081,000 after purchasing an additional 36,895 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 248,645 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 138,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,886,126.44. This represents a 64.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total transaction of $167,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 100,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,398,843.87. The trade was a 1.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 447,234 shares of company stock valued at $41,288,086. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on GILD. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.43.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $91.86 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $114.48 billion, a PE ratio of 1,020.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.18. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.07 and a 52-week high of $98.90. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $89.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $79.55. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. The company’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current 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 of this dividend is 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 is presently 3,422.22%.

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.