First County Bank CT Buys 680 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

First County Bank CT boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,760 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 680 shares during the period. Gilead Sciences makes up about 1.2% of First County Bank CT’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest holding. First County Bank CT’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $2,195,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter worth about $230,000. Diversified Trust Co raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 34,455 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,183,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019 shares during the last quarter. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at $4,463,000. Fortem Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Fortem Financial Group LLC now owns 6,670 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $616,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 76,943 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,173 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Leerink Partners raised Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $74.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Monday, October 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.43.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $91.11. The stock had a trading volume of 3,194,370 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,393,447. The company has a market cap of $113.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,012.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.18. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $91.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $82.84. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.07 and a 1 year high of $98.90.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.44. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. The firm had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.29 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is 3,422.22%.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.96, for a total value of $781,660.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 132,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,173,021.08. This represents a 6.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total value of $2,341,485.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 99,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,113,308.50. The trade was a 20.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 453,734 shares of company stock valued at $41,902,086. 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.