Insider Selling: Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) CFO Sells 137,676 Shares of Stock

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 137,676 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.22, for a total transaction of $14,073,240.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 171,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,502,415.06. This represents a 44.57 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $105.96 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $93.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.24. The company has a market capitalization of $132.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,177.33, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.18. 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 twelve month low of $62.07 and a twelve month high of $106.43.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. As a group, analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.98%. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is presently 3,422.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GILD shares. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Leerink Partners upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $74.00 to $96.00 in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Barclays raised their target price on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.33.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 14.7% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 400,819 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $33,645,000 after buying an additional 51,390 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,615 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $303,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $213,000. CX Institutional grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 60,987 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,113,000 after purchasing an additional 15,545 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. raised its stake in Gilead Sciences by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 20,526 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,721,000 after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.