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

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

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bellevue Group AG grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 18.2% during the third quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 46,027 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,859,000 after buying an additional 7,093 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 149.5% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 81,620 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,843,000 after purchasing an additional 48,910 shares during the period. McAdam LLC raised its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 25,372 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,344,000 after purchasing an additional 3,627 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 387,492 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $35,793,000 after purchasing an additional 9,791 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 142,167 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $13,132,000 after buying an additional 5,382 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GILD shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $120.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 17,929 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 169,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,977,938.37. This trade represents a 9.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 302,785 shares of company stock worth $30,503,250. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $110.23 on Wednesday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.07 and a fifty-two week high of $119.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 297.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $102.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.38.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. On average, analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

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