Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Decreases Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund reduced its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 275,038 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 770 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $25,405,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 101.9% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 1.0 %

GILD opened at $111.03 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.08. 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 twelve month low of $62.07 and a twelve month high of $111.99. The firm has a market cap of $138.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 300.08, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.18.

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

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.85%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 854.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on GILD. Daiwa America raised shares of Gilead Sciences to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.08.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.09, for a total transaction of $260,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 169,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,597,559.49. This represents a 1.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total transaction of $15,094,275.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 80,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,427,227.92. This trade represents a 67.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 706,212 shares of company stock valued at $67,324,826. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.