MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 8,561 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

MetLife Investment Management LLC reduced its position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 2.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 323,789 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 8,561 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $27,146,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GILD. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 198.3% during the 2nd quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 358 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the third quarter worth $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 101.9% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 51.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GILD. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Leerink Partners upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $74.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.41.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD traded up $0.52 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $91.87. 143,311 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,054,696. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $87.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.49 billion, a PE ratio of 1,015.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.17. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a one year low of $62.07 and a one year high of $98.90.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.44. The firm had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In other news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total value of $2,459,529.46. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 78,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,545,480.06. This represents a 27.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total value of $2,341,485.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 99,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,113,308.50. This represents a 20.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,947 shares of company stock valued at $4,968,674 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

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.