Insider Selling: Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) CFO Sells 17,929 Shares of Stock

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 17,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.17, for a total value of $2,118,669.93. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 169,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,977,938.37. The trade was a 9.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 0.4 %

NASDAQ:GILD traded down $0.44 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $113.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,065,860 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,248,752. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.07 and a twelve month high of $119.96. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.18. The stock has a market cap of $141.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 308.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.20.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. On average, equities analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS 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 given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.77%. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 854.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GILD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.52.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GILD. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,789,254,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 79.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,162,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,780,329,000 after purchasing an additional 14,680,161 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 50.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,600,676 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,900,921,000 after buying an additional 11,665,593 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 723.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,434,665 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $594,370,000 after buying an additional 5,653,075 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,915,095 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,377,707,000 after buying an additional 2,458,954 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.