Insider Selling: Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) CFO Sells 2,500 Shares of Stock

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.09, for a total value of $260,225.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 169,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,597,559.49. The trade was a 1.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of GILD traded up $2.40 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $107.65. The stock had a trading volume of 6,298,340 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,370,583. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.07 and a 12-month high of $107.81. The firm has a market cap of $134.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 290.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.18. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.09.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. Equities research analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.94%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is presently 832.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GILD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Maxim Group downgraded Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $83.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $109.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Eleven equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.08.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 118.5% during the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 284 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 101.9% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.