Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. lessened its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 972,840 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 10,600 shares during the quarter. Gilead Sciences comprises 1.4% of Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. owned 0.08% of Gilead Sciences worth $74,977,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 121.2% in the second quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 2,070 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,134 shares in the last quarter. American Trust purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the 1st quarter worth approximately $289,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 346,600 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,713,000 after purchasing an additional 5,266 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.3% during the second quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 26,776 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,064,000 after buying an additional 356 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.33% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Gilead Sciences from $78.00 to $77.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 14th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 24th. Bank of America upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $88.00 to $95.00 in a research report on Friday, September 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Thursday, November 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $88.22.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock traded up $0.15 on Monday, reaching $75.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,083,590 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,753,910. The company has a market capitalization of $94.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.27, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $76.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $72.87 and a 52-week high of $89.74.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.38. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 39.30% and a net margin of 21.45%. The business had revenue of $7.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.81 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 6.76 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 64.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 1,501 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.99, for a total transaction of $115,561.99. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 70,130 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,399,308.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 1,501 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.99, for a total value of $115,561.99. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 70,130 shares in the company, valued at $5,399,308.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $400,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 104,003 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,320,240. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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, and Atripla products for the treatment of HIV/AIDS; Veklury, an injection for intravenous use, for the treatment of coronavirus disease 2019; and Epclusa, Harvoni, Vosevi, Vemlidy, and Viread for the treatment of viral hepatitis.