Whitener Capital Management Inc. Trims Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Whitener Capital Management Inc. trimmed its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,657 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 120 shares during the quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $800,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Gilead Sciences by 0.6% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 85,804 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,887,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 2nd quarter worth $525,000. Kendall Capital Management grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 102.6% during the second quarter. Kendall Capital Management now owns 7,317 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $502,000 after acquiring an additional 3,705 shares during the period. MQS Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 33.9% in the 2nd quarter. MQS Management LLC now owns 4,573 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,157 shares during the period. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 69,215 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,749,000 after purchasing an additional 2,453 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $91.84 on Friday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a one year low of $62.07 and a one year high of $98.90. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $91.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.81. The company has a market capitalization of $114.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,020.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The business had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. Gilead Sciences’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is currently 3,422.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 248,645 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.76, for a total transaction of $23,064,310.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 138,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,886,126.44. This represents a 64.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total transaction of $2,341,485.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 99,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,113,308.50. This trade represents a 20.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 456,234 shares of company stock worth $42,130,461 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GILD. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $84.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $74.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.96.

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.