ING Groep NV Sells 133,302 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

ING Groep NV reduced its position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 33.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 259,383 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 133,302 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $23,959,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GILD. Bellevue Group AG boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 18.2% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 149.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 81,620 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,843,000 after purchasing an additional 48,910 shares in the last quarter. McAdam LLC boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 25,372 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,344,000 after purchasing an additional 3,627 shares in the last quarter. IRON Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $830,000. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 387,492 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $35,793,000 after purchasing an additional 9,791 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $110.03 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $137.13 billion, a PE ratio of 297.38, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $95.05 and a 200 day moving average of $88.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.50. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a one year low of $62.07 and a one year high of $110.11.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued 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 net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 31.63%. As a group, research analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 832.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,427,227.92. The trade was a 67.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total transaction of $620,355.32. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $815,198.80. The trade was a 43.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 713,000 shares of company stock valued at $67,945,181 in the last 90 days. 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.