Cannell & Spears LLC Sells 814 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Cannell & Spears LLC lowered its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 16.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,077 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 814 shares during the quarter. Cannell & Spears LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $377,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,171,691 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,044,795,000 after buying an additional 841,776 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,659,007 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,293,822,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058,331 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,540,870 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,302,119,000 after purchasing an additional 574,421 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter worth about $1,789,254,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,002,779 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $739,217,000 after purchasing an additional 249,804 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 142,180 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.22, for a total value of $13,822,739.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,626,253.06. This trade represents a 52.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 302,785 shares of company stock valued at $30,503,250. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on GILD. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.12.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of GILD stock opened at $111.28 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $138.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 300.76, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $106.25 and its 200 day moving average is $95.40. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.07 and a 12-month high of $119.96.

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

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is 854.05%.

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.