Blue Trust Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Blue Trust Inc. lessened its holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) by 45.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,526 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 2,994 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $326,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,422 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $782,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Southland Equity Partners LLC raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 3.6% in 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. Concord Asset Management LLC VA raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 3.8% in the third quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 3,056 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Bank raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 3.4% in 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. Finally, TFB Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 1.2% in the third quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 9,397 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $788,000 after buying an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company's stock.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of GILD traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $109.95. The stock had a trading volume of 9,729,048 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,379,648. The firm has a market cap of $137.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 297.16, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.18. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.07 and a 12 month high of $111.03. The business has a fifty day moving average of $95.41 and a 200 day moving average of $88.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.50.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share 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%. Equities analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.79 dividend. This is a positive change 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 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences's dividend payout ratio is presently 832.43%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.09, for a total transaction of $260,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 169,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,597,559.49. This represents a 1.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total transaction of $15,094,275.12. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 80,801 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,427,227.92. This represents a 67.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 713,000 shares of company stock worth $67,945,181 over the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Maxim Group cut shares of Gilead Sciences from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Daiwa America raised shares of Gilead Sciences to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $120.00 in a report on Tuesday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $102.08.

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.