Sheets Smith Wealth Management Cuts Stock Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Sheets Smith Wealth Management cut its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 34.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,064 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 6,931 shares during the period. Sheets Smith Wealth Management’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $1,095,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 101.9% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 198.3% during the 2nd quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 358 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 51.6% in the second quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GILD shares. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $74.00 to $96.00 in a report on Monday, October 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.50.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $96.57 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $85.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.03. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.07 and a 52-week high of $98.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $120.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,072.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.17.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly 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. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 28.60% and a net margin of 0.45%. The business had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.29 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3,422.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total transaction of $2,459,529.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 78,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,545,480.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total value of $2,341,485.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 99,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,113,308.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total transaction of $2,459,529.46. Following the sale, the insider now owns 78,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,545,480.06. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 62,437 shares of company stock valued at $5,374,825 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences 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.