Lakeside Advisors INC. Sells 599 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Lakeside Advisors INC. cut its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,248 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 599 shares during the quarter. Gilead Sciences comprises approximately 0.6% of Lakeside Advisors INC.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Lakeside Advisors INC.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $947,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GILD shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $120.00 in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $109.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. 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 research report on Thursday, February 13th. Maxim Group lowered Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.08.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $110.03 on Friday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.07 and a fifty-two week high of $110.11. The company has a market cap of $137.13 billion, a PE ratio of 297.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.50. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $88.38.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.94 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change 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%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 832.43%.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In other news, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total value of $620,355.32. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $815,198.80. This represents a 43.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $17,597,559.49. The trade was a 1.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 713,000 shares of company stock valued at $67,945,181 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.