Most Searched Tickers Among Financial Advisors: Apple and Alphabet Share the Lead; Focus on Tech, Consumer Stocks

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) made a comeback last week and ranked as the third-most searched ticker, after having dropped to the ninth spot the week before. Gilead also had a pretty eventful week, as it reported its financial results for the latest quarter. On the one hand, the company managed to beat earnings and revenue expectations, with EPS of $3.32 on revenue of $8.41 billion, versus estimates of $2.98 and $8.16 billion, respectively. The company’s key products, the hepatitis C drugs Sovaldi and Harvoni also registered sales of $4.90 billion, which exceeded the estimates of $4.54 billion. On the other hand, Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) said it expects product sales in the range of $30 billion to $31 billion in 2016, which is lower than the Street’s forecast of $31.9 billion. However, the increase in its dividend payout to $0.47 per share and the expansion of its buyback program managed to offset the weaker-than-expected guidance and the stock appreciated by 2.5% during the last week.

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) was one of the most popular healthcare stocks among the funds we follow at the end of September, and as of the end of the fourth quarter, one of the investors that remains bullish on the stock is Clifford G. Fox‘s Columbus Circle Investors, which reported holding 3.23 million shares in its latest 13F filing.