Blue Trust Inc. Sells 2,994 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Blue Trust Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 45.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,526 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,994 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $326,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 118.5% in the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 284 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in Gilead Sciences in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 101.9% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In related news, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total transaction of $620,355.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $815,198.80. This trade represents a 43.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total value of $228,375.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,863,898.55. This trade represents a 1.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 710,500 shares of company stock valued at $67,684,956. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 1.1 %

NASDAQ GILD opened at $105.25 on Wednesday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.07 and a fifty-two week high of $106.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.89. The stock has a market cap of $131.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,169.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.18.

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

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3,422.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. DZ Bank upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Daiwa America upgraded Gilead Sciences to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.