West Branch Capital LLC Sells 2,184 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

West Branch Capital LLC reduced its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 30.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,968 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,184 shares during the period. West Branch Capital LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $459,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GILD. Bellevue Group AG increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 18.2% in the third quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 46,027 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,859,000 after purchasing an additional 7,093 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its stake in Gilead Sciences by 149.5% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 81,620 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,843,000 after buying an additional 48,910 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,414,268 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $851,743,000 after buying an additional 93,068 shares during the period. IRON Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $830,000. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 387,492 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $35,793,000 after acquiring an additional 9,791 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock opened at $92.96 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,032.89, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.18. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a one year low of $62.07 and a one year high of $98.90. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The business had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. Gilead Sciences’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 3,422.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total transaction of $15,094,275.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 80,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,427,227.92. This trade represents a 67.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total transaction of $228,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at $11,863,898.55. This trade represents a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 456,234 shares of company stock worth $42,130,461. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GILD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup started coverage on Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $87.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.96.

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.