Andra AP fonden Trims Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Andra AP fonden lessened its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 19.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 321,800 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 76,700 shares during the period. Andra AP fonden’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $29,725,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Destination Wealth Management bought a new position in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $362,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 44,217 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,084,000 after buying an additional 932 shares during the last quarter. Callan Family Office LLC bought a new position in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,825,000. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC bought a new position in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $548,000. Finally, E Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 10.4% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 31,774 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,935,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.09, for a total value of $260,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 169,061 shares in the company, valued at $17,597,559.49. This trade represents a 1.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 293,356 shares of company stock worth $29,166,240. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Barclays raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.24.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock opened at $116.04 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $144.62 billion, a PE ratio of 313.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $99.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.50. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.07 and a 1 year high of $117.39.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 31.63%. Equities analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.79 dividend. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.72%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is 854.05%.

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.