Dearborn Partners LLC Sells 11,954 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Dearborn Partners LLC lessened its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 319,125 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 11,954 shares during the quarter. Dearborn Partners LLC's holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $26,755,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,328,000. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 0.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,414,268 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $851,743,000 after purchasing an additional 93,068 shares in the last quarter. IRON Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the third quarter worth $830,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 13.1% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 286,116 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $19,630,000 after buying an additional 33,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 127.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 213,901 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $15,668,000 after buying an additional 119,909 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GILD. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $74.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $93.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In related news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total transaction of $2,459,529.46. Following the sale, the insider now owns 78,127 shares in the company, valued at $6,545,480.06. This represents a 27.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total value of $2,341,485.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 99,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,113,308.50. This represents a 20.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,947 shares of company stock valued at $4,968,674. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of GILD traded down $3.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $88.53. 5,885,686 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,077,355. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.07 and a 52 week high of $98.90. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $86.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.81. The firm has a market cap of $110.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,007.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.17.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. The company had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. Gilead Sciences's quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.39 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences's payout ratio is presently 3,422.22%.

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.