FIL Ltd Sells 28,386 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

FIL Ltd decreased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 69.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 12,467 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 28,386 shares during the period. FIL Ltd’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $1,152,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Gilead Sciences by 118.5% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 284 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 325.0% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 340 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on GILD shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $80.00 to $120.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total value of $228,375.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at $11,863,898.55. The trade was a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 302,785 shares of company stock valued at $30,503,250. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GILD opened at $103.63 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.50. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $108.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $96.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.04 billion, a PE ratio of 280.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.32. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.07 and a 52-week high of $119.96.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 31.63%. Analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid 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 was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 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.