Farmers Trust Co. Trims Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Farmers Trust Co. cut its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 63,527 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,477 shares during the quarter. Farmers Trust Co.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $5,868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of GILD. Lantz Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.5% in the second quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 24,920 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,710,000 after acquiring an additional 840 shares during the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 3.4% during the second quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 11,429 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $784,000 after purchasing an additional 378 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 44,450 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,050,000 after acquiring an additional 818 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 356.7% during the 2nd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 45,501 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,123,000 after purchasing an additional 35,538 shares during the period. Finally, Liberty Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the second quarter worth about $218,000. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 8,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.96, for a total transaction of $781,660.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 132,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,173,021.08. This represents a 6.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total transaction of $2,341,485.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 99,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,113,308.50. This trade represents a 20.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 453,734 shares of company stock valued at $41,902,086 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on GILD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.43.

Gilead Sciences Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of GILD traded down $1.38 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $89.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,598,500 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,760,534. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market cap of $111.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 991.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a 50 day moving average of $91.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $82.98. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.07 and a 1-year high of $98.90.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.45%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 3,422.22%.

Gilead Sciences 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.