Meritage Portfolio Management Lowers Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Meritage Portfolio Management trimmed its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 6.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 54,876 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 3,727 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $5,069,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tectonic Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 81,286 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,508,000 after acquiring an additional 5,580 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 8.6% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 434,165 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $40,689,000 after purchasing an additional 34,549 shares during the period. Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 43.3% during the fourth quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 1,602 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $148,000 after purchasing an additional 484 shares in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $145,000. Finally, Stratos Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Stratos Investment Management LLC now owns 2,895 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $267,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of GILD opened at $97.99 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.71 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.32. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.07 and a 1 year high of $99.45. The firm has a market cap of $122.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,088.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.18.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. The business had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on GILD shares. Citigroup began coverage on Gilead Sciences in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Gilead Sciences in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $98.39.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total transaction of $620,355.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $815,198.80. The trade was a 43.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 248,645 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.76, for a total value of $23,064,310.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 138,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,886,126.44. This trade represents a 64.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 572,824 shares of company stock valued at $53,611,715 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.