Linscomb Wealth Inc. Cuts Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Linscomb Wealth Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 17.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,706 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,464 shares during the period. Linscomb Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $619,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 79.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,162,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,780,329,000 after buying an additional 14,680,161 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 50.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,600,676 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,900,921,000 after acquiring an additional 11,665,593 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 723.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,434,665 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $594,370,000 after acquiring an additional 5,653,075 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 350.1% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,305,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $193,274,000 after acquiring an additional 1,793,145 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $87,163,000. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of GILD opened at $114.31 on Friday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.07 and a fifty-two week high of $114.77. The company’s fifty day moving average is $97.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.94. The firm has a market cap of $142.46 billion, a PE ratio of 308.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. Analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.76%. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is presently 854.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Gilead Sciences in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.08.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 169,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,597,559.49. The trade was a 1.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 293,356 shares of company stock valued at $29,166,240. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.