Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Sells 1,343 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,139 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,343 shares during the quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $2,137,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 325.0% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 340 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.12.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of GILD opened at $105.52 on Tuesday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.07 and a 52 week high of $119.96. 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 moving average price of $107.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $96.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $131.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 285.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.32.

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

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 854.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 142,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.22, for a total value of $13,822,739.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,626,253.06. This represents a 52.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 302,785 shares of company stock worth $30,503,250. Insiders own 0.16% 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.