Royce & Associates LP Sells 10,000 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Royce & Associates LP lowered its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 12.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 70,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 10,000 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $6,466,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GILD. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,422 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $782,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 3,128 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Bank increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 3,398 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 4,265 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 11,354 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on GILD shares. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.52.

Gilead Sciences Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $110.23 on Wednesday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.07 and a 52 week high of $119.96. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $102.63 and its 200 day moving average is $93.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 297.92, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 EPS 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 854.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total value of $228,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,863,898.55. This represents a 1.89 % 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 302,785 shares of company stock valued at $30,503,250. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.