Vontobel Holding Ltd. Sells 40,733 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 15.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 218,382 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 40,733 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $20,172,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 118.5% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 284 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 101.9% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of GILD opened at $104.08 on Friday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.07 and a twelve month high of $106.69. The company has a market cap of $129.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,156.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $93.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.37.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) 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 net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. As a group, analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.35 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost 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 3.04%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 854.05%.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total transaction of $15,094,275.12. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 80,801 shares in the company, valued at $7,427,227.92. This represents a 67.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 137,676 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.22, for a total transaction of $14,073,240.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 171,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,502,415.06. The trade was a 44.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 710,500 shares of company stock worth $67,684,956. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on GILD shares. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.33.

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.