Wells Fargo & Company MN Sells 377,656 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Wells Fargo & Company MN lowered its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,814,812 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 377,656 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned 0.55% of Gilead Sciences worth $629,484,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GILD. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,789,254,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 50.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,600,676 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,900,921,000 after purchasing an additional 11,665,593 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 723.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,434,665 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $594,370,000 after purchasing an additional 5,653,075 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth about $207,340,000. Finally, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 148.4% during the 4th quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 1,817,880 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $167,209,000 after acquiring an additional 1,085,987 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total value of $228,375.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at $11,863,898.55. The trade was a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 302,785 shares of company stock worth $30,503,250. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on GILD. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company 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 issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $105.12.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Gilead Sciences stock traded up $1.12 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $106.64. 3,281,780 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,363,104. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $107.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $96.13. 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 cap of $132.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 288.71, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. 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.