Bender Robert & Associates Sells 971 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Bender Robert & Associates cut its holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 8.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,363 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 971 shares during the period. Gilead Sciences accounts for 0.2% of Bender Robert & Associates’ portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Bender Robert & Associates’ holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $957,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 79.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,162,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,780,329,000 after buying an additional 14,680,161 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 50.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,600,676 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,900,921,000 after purchasing an additional 11,665,593 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 723.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,434,665 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $594,370,000 after purchasing an additional 5,653,075 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at $207,340,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 350.1% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,305,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $193,274,000 after buying an additional 1,793,145 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GILD shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. DZ Bank raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.52.

Gilead Sciences Stock Down 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $114.43 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $100.56 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $142.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 309.27, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.07 and a 52-week high of $119.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.50.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. Sell-side analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. 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 dividend yield of 2.76%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 854.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, 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 value of $228,375.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,863,898.55. This trade represents a 1.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 293,356 shares of company stock valued at $29,166,240 over the last 90 days. Corporate 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.