Welch & Forbes LLC Reduces Stock Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Welch & Forbes LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,219 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,675 shares during the quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $2,367,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GILD. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Tompkins Financial Corp lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 223.1% during the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 349 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ GILD traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $65.46. The stock had a trading volume of 7,317,910 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,455,094. The stock has a market cap of $81.50 billion, a PE ratio of 181.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.22. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.33 and a 1 year high of $87.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $70.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.60.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.32) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.49) by $0.17. The business had revenue of $6.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.36 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 24.34% and a net margin of 1.76%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.37 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 855.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.18, for a total value of $146,360.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 100,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,386,496.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GILD. HSBC upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $69.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Truist Financial cut shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $91.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 27th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.69.

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.