Advisors Asset Management Inc. Sells 29,260 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 225,576 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 29,260 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $20,836,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 118.5% during the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 284 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 325.0% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 340 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.52.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $112.26 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.07 and a 12 month high of $119.96. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $102.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.16. The stock has a market cap of $139.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 303.41, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted 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 net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 31.63%. As a group, analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current 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. 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 2.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is currently 854.05%.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 17,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.17, for a total value of $2,118,669.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 169,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,977,938.37. The trade was a 9.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 302,785 shares of company stock worth $30,503,250 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.16% 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.