Wells Fargo & Company MN Sells 377,656 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Wells Fargo & Company MN reduced its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,814,812 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 377,656 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $629,484,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,580 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $322,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Southland Equity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 3,128 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Bank grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 3,398 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. CFO4Life Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 4,265 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Howe & Rusling Inc. raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 4,704 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.12.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 17,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.17, for a total transaction of $2,118,669.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 169,061 shares in the company, valued at $19,977,938.37. The trade was a 9.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 302,785 shares of company stock valued at $30,503,250. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock opened at $107.25 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $107.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.80. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a one year low of $62.07 and a one year high of $119.96. The stock has a market cap of $133.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 289.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.50.

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 net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 31.63%. Equities analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 854.05%.

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.