Argent Trust Co Sells 1,114 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Argent Trust Co cut its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 67,813 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,114 shares during the period. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $6,264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total transaction of $228,375.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,863,898.55. This trade represents a 1.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders sold 302,785 shares of company stock valued at $30,503,250. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of GILD traded down $1.69 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $103.56. 344,372 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,437,113. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.07 and a twelve month high of $119.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $108.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $96.52. The company has a market cap of $128.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 280.65, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.32.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share (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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.79 dividend. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.05%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is 854.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on GILD. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.12.

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.