Insider Selling: Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) CFO Sells 248,645 Shares of Stock

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 248,645 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.76, for a total value of $23,064,310.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 138,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,886,126.44. This represents a 64.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Gilead Sciences Stock Down 1.6 %

NASDAQ:GILD traded down $1.53 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $92.49. 5,515,478 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,037,190. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a one year low of $62.07 and a one year high of $98.90. The company has a market cap of $115.27 billion, a PE ratio of 1,044.67, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.18. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $88.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.29 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is presently 3,422.22%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bellevue Group AG boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 46,027 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,859,000 after purchasing an additional 7,093 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in Gilead Sciences in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,328,000. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,414,268 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $851,743,000 after acquiring an additional 93,068 shares during the last quarter. IRON Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the third quarter worth about $830,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 13.1% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 286,116 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $19,630,000 after purchasing an additional 33,162 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on GILD shares. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Barclays boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.41.

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.