Sentry Investment Management LLC Trims Stock Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Sentry Investment Management LLC cut its position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 14.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 5,201 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 847 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $480,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 118.5% during the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 284 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 101.9% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total transaction of $15,094,275.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 80,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,427,227.92. This trade represents a 67.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 248,645 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.76, for a total value of $23,064,310.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 138,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,886,126.44. The trade was a 64.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 706,212 shares of company stock valued at $67,324,826 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on GILD shares. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.08.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 1.0 %

Gilead Sciences stock opened at $111.03 on Tuesday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.07 and a 12 month high of $111.99. The company has a market capitalization of $138.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 300.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.18. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $89.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 31.63%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 854.05%.

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.