Sigma Planning Corp Lowers Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Sigma Planning Corp cut its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 43,468 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,126 shares during the quarter. Sigma Planning Corp’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $4,015,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 14.7% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 400,819 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $33,645,000 after purchasing an additional 51,390 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 10.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,047,609 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $171,672,000 after purchasing an additional 189,622 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences during the third quarter worth approximately $90,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 8,238.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,642,504 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $137,708,000 after purchasing an additional 1,622,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 73.9% during the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 19,880 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,667,000 after purchasing an additional 8,451 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently commented on GILD shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. 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, February 12th. Maxim Group lowered shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven investment 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.09, for a total transaction of $260,225.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 169,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,597,559.49. This represents a 1.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total transaction of $15,094,275.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 80,801 shares in the company, valued at $7,427,227.92. This trade represents a 67.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 713,000 shares of company stock worth $67,945,181 in the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of GILD stock opened at $109.95 on Friday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.07 and a twelve month high of $111.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $137.03 billion, a PE ratio of 297.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.18. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.73.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 31.63%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is 832.43%.

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.