Zacks Investment Management Reduces Stock Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Zacks Investment Management lessened its holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 334,973 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 34,385 shares during the period. Zacks Investment Management’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $30,941,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 118.5% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 284 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 325.0% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 340 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 17,929 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 169,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,977,938.37. This represents a 9.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 300,285 shares of company stock worth $30,274,875 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GILD shares. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $80.00 to $120.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. 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 note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $105.12.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of GILD stock opened at $105.68 on Wednesday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.07 and a twelve month high of $119.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $108.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $131.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 285.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.32.

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

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend 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.