Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Shares Sold by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council lessened its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 217,238 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 3,800 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $20,066,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in Gilead Sciences by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 400,819 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,645,000 after purchasing an additional 51,390 shares during the period. Swedbank AB increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 10.2% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,047,609 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $171,672,000 after acquiring an additional 189,622 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the third quarter worth $90,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 8,238.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,642,504 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $137,708,000 after acquiring an additional 1,622,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 73.9% in the third quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 19,880 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,667,000 after acquiring an additional 8,451 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $109.95 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $95.41 and its 200-day moving average is $88.73. The stock has a market cap of $137.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 297.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.18. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.07 and a twelve month high of $111.03. 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 results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.87%. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 832.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 80,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,427,227.92. The trade was a 67.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total transaction of $228,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at $11,863,898.55. The trade was a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 713,000 shares of company stock worth $67,945,181 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GILD. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $83.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective 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. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Eleven 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.08.

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.