Legal & General Group Plc Trims Stock Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Legal & General Group Plc decreased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 18.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 9,911,231 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,292,331 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.80% of Gilead Sciences worth $915,500,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Gilead Sciences by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,580 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $322,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 3,128 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Berkshire Bank grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 3,398 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 4,265 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $394,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, Howe & Rusling Inc. raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 4,704 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on GILD shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.12.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 4.6 %

NASDAQ:GILD opened at $107.25 on Monday. 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 fifty day simple moving average of $107.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.98. The company has a market capitalization of $133.54 billion, a PE ratio of 289.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.32.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities research 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 was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 854.05%.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 17,929 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.17, for a total transaction of $2,118,669.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 169,061 shares in the company, valued at $19,977,938.37. The trade was a 9.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 302,785 shares of company stock valued at $30,503,250 over the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.