Raymond James & Associates Trims Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Raymond James & Associates cut its position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 18.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,031,209 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 452,231 shares during the quarter. Raymond James & Associates owned approximately 0.16% of Gilead Sciences worth $148,786,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GILD. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Tompkins Financial Corp lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 223.1% in the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 349 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $101.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. UBS Group reduced their target price on Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.60.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total transaction of $145,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,026,339.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:GILD traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $65.94. 7,838,371 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,481,456. The firm has a market cap of $82.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 183.17, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.19. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.17. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $64.63 and a 52-week high of $87.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.32) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.49) by $0.17. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 24.34% and a net margin of 1.76%. The business had revenue of $6.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.36 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is currently 855.56%.

Gilead Sciences Company 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.