Vinva Investment Management Ltd Trims Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Vinva Investment Management Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 84,553 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 8,691 shares during the quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $7,780,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. North Forty Two & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter worth $573,000. VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter worth $69,000. Saiph Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 13.3% during the 4th quarter. Saiph Capital LLC now owns 5,591 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter worth $670,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 195,587 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $18,066,000 after purchasing an additional 3,038 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GILD. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, DZ Bank raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 17,929 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.17, for a total value of $2,118,669.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 169,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,977,938.37. This trade represents a 9.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last three months, insiders sold 302,785 shares of company stock worth $30,503,250. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock opened at $110.23 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $102.63 and a 200-day moving average of $93.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The company has a market capitalization of $137.27 billion, a PE ratio of 297.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.07 and a 1-year high of $119.96.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.79 dividend. 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 (DPR) is 854.05%.

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.