Essex Financial Services Inc. Sells 761 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Essex Financial Services Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,907 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 761 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $546,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GILD. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $242,000. Wingate Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $118,000. Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 27,921 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,579,000 after purchasing an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,710 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $805,000 after purchasing an additional 684 shares during the period. Finally, Angeles Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $200,000. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In related news, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total transaction of $620,355.32. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,920 shares in the company, valued at $815,198.80. The trade was a 43.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 value of $15,094,275.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 572,824 shares of company stock valued at $53,611,715. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

NASDAQ GILD opened at $103.31 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $128.75 billion, a PE ratio of 1,147.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.18. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.07 and a 52-week high of $104.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $93.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.12.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced 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 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.35 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. Shareholders 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 an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is currently 3,422.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GILD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.04.

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.