Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Shares Sold by Truist Financial Corp

Truist Financial Corp lessened its position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 369,735 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 17,375 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $34,152,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Quarterback LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $219,000. CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 448,281 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $41,408,000 after buying an additional 8,911 shares during the last quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 201.8% in the fourth quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC now owns 10,562 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $976,000 after buying an additional 7,062 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 11,200 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,035,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $94,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 137,676 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.22, for a total transaction of $14,073,240.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 171,223 shares in the company, valued at $17,502,415.06. This represents a 44.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total transaction of $15,094,275.12. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 80,801 shares in the company, valued at $7,427,227.92. This trade represents a 67.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 710,500 shares of company stock worth $67,684,956 in the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of GILD stock opened at $105.25 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $131.17 billion, a PE ratio of 1,169.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.18. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.89. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.07 and a twelve month high of $106.69.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is 3,422.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on GILD. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Eleven investment 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 data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.08.

About Gilead Sciences

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.