Clarius Group LLC Lowers Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Clarius Group LLC reduced its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,848 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 175 shares during the period. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $633,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GILD. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 0.6% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 85,804 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,887,000 after buying an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $525,000. MQS Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 33.9% during the 2nd quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 4,573 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 1,157 shares during the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 3.7% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 69,215 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,749,000 after purchasing an additional 2,453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in Gilead Sciences by 91.4% during the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 2,699,863 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $185,238,000 after purchasing an additional 1,289,420 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of GILD stock opened at $91.84 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,020.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.07 and a twelve month high of $98.90. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.97.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. The company had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3,422.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on GILD shares. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Maxim Group cut Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $84.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Gilead Sciences in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.96.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total transaction of $2,341,485.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 99,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,113,308.50. This represents a 20.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total transaction of $228,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at $11,863,898.55. This represents a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 456,234 shares of company stock worth $42,130,461 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.