Sapient Capital LLC Takes Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 4,004 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $324,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Tompkins Financial Corp lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on GILD. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $101.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.36.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.18, for a total value of $146,360.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 100,936 shares in the company, valued at $7,386,496.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.78, for a total value of $428,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 101,534 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,709,586.52. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.18, for a total value of $146,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 100,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,386,496.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,000 shares of company stock worth $721,180. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of GILD stock opened at $68.07 on Monday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $67.62 and a 12 month high of $87.86. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The business’s 50 day moving average is $72.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $76.83. The company has a market cap of $84.75 billion, a PE ratio of 15.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.19.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $7.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.10 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 38.85%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.67 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.08 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.77 dividend. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.52%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.44%.

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.