Welch & Forbes LLC Decreases Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Welch & Forbes LLC decreased its position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 29,219 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,675 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $2,367,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Tompkins Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 223.1% during the 3rd quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 349 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.18, for a total value of $146,360.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 100,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,386,496.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GILD traded down $0.08 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $65.46. 7,317,910 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,455,094. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $70.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $75.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a market cap of $81.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 181.83, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.22. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.33 and a 1 year high of $87.86.

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 net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 24.34%. The company had revenue of $6.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.36 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 855.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on GILD shares. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Maxim Group reduced their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 27th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.69.

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.