Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 45,470 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Prudential Financial Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 981,253 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 45,470 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $90,638,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 79.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,162,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,780,329,000 after acquiring an additional 14,680,161 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $2,900,921,000 after purchasing an additional 11,665,593 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 5,653,075 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter worth approximately $207,340,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 350.1% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,305,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $193,274,000 after buying an additional 1,793,145 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD opened at $106.74 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $104.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.15. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.07 and a 52 week high of $119.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 288.49, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 EPS 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, analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. 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 Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on GILD. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 142,180 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.22, for a total value of $13,822,739.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,626,253.06. This represents a 52.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold a total of 302,785 shares of company stock worth $30,503,250 over the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.