Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Decreases Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lowered its position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 310,535 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 13,481 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $28,684,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,422 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $782,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 3,128 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 3,056 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Berkshire Bank increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 3,398 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CFO4Life Group LLC boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 4,265 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

GILD opened at $111.44 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.07 and a 52-week high of $119.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.78 billion, a PE ratio of 301.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $101.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $92.82.

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

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 854.05%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 17,929 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.17, for a total transaction of $2,118,669.93. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 169,061 shares in the company, valued at $19,977,938.37. The trade was a 9.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 311,285 shares of company stock valued at $31,284,910. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America raised their target price on Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.52.

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.