Transcend Capital Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Transcend Capital Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 33.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 5,619 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,787 shares during the period. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $519,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 51,929 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,797,000 after buying an additional 354 shares during the period. Advyzon Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth $418,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 590,156 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $54,513,000 after acquiring an additional 51,453 shares in the last quarter. Sunpointe LLC lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. Sunpointe LLC now owns 4,654 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $430,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 8,982 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $830,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Down 0.1 %

GILD opened at $109.95 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $95.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.73. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.07 and a 52 week high of $111.03. The stock has a market cap of $137.03 billion, a PE ratio of 297.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. As a group, research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. 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 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 832.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on GILD shares. DZ Bank upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded Gilead Sciences to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.08.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 248,645 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.76, for a total transaction of $23,064,310.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 138,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,886,126.44. This trade represents a 64.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total value 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 trade represents a 67.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 713,000 shares of company stock valued at $67,945,181. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.