Wedbush Securities Inc. Sells 280 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Wedbush Securities Inc. reduced its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 1.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,158 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 280 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $1,862,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 118.5% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 284 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 325.0% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 340 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GILD shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” 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 target price for the company from $80.00 to $120.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 142,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.22, for a total transaction of $13,822,739.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,626,253.06. This trade represents a 52.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 302,785 shares of company stock worth $30,503,250. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of GILD opened at $107.25 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $107.30 and a 200-day moving average of $95.89. 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 has a market capitalization 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. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.07 and a 1 year high of $119.96.

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

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is 854.05%.

About Gilead Sciences

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.