Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC Sells 5,653 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 16.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 28,725 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 5,653 shares during the period. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $2,653,000 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 GILD. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 400,819 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $33,645,000 after acquiring an additional 51,390 shares during the period. Swedbank AB grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,047,609 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $171,672,000 after buying an additional 189,622 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 439,016 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $36,807,000 after buying an additional 83,063 shares during the last quarter. Orrstown Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $311,000. Finally, Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hunter Associates Investment Management LLC now owns 17,925 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,503,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GILD has been the topic of several recent research reports. DZ Bank upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Barclays increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Maxim Group downgraded Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.08.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of GILD stock opened at $111.51 on Wednesday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.07 and a 52-week high of $112.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.97 billion, a PE ratio of 301.39, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.18. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.35.

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

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.83%. 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 8,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.96, for a total transaction of $781,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 132,373 shares in the company, valued at $12,173,021.08. This trade represents a 6.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 542,001 shares of company stock worth $52,230,551. Corporate insiders own 0.16% 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.