Sienna Gestion Trims Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Sienna Gestion reduced its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 24.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 54,099 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 17,722 shares during the quarter. Sienna Gestion’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $4,996,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 79.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,162,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,780,329,000 after purchasing an additional 14,680,161 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 50.9% in 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 acquiring an additional 11,665,593 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 723.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,434,665 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $594,370,000 after purchasing an additional 5,653,075 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter valued at about $207,340,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Gilead Sciences by 350.1% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,305,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $193,274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,793,145 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $113.35 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $141.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 306.35, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $101.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.47. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.07 and a 12 month high of $119.96.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 31.63%. Analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm 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 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 2.79%. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 854.05%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 142,180 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.22, for a total value of $13,822,739.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at $12,626,253.06. This trade represents a 52.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders sold 311,285 shares of company stock worth $31,284,910 over the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GILD has been the subject of several analyst reports. Daiwa America raised shares of Gilead Sciences to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. UBS Group lifted their price target 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. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.52.

Gilead Sciences 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.