Ballentine Partners LLC Buys 1,956 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 9.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,836 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 1,956 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $2,017,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bellevue Group AG increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 18.2% during the third quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 46,027 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,859,000 after purchasing an additional 7,093 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 149.5% during the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 81,620 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,843,000 after buying an additional 48,910 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 0.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,414,268 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $851,743,000 after buying an additional 93,068 shares in the last quarter. IRON Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the third quarter worth approximately $830,000. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 387,492 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $35,793,000 after buying an additional 9,791 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. 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. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.96.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of GILD opened at $92.96 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $115.85 billion, a PE ratio of 1,032.89, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.18. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.07 and a 12 month high of $98.90. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $91.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

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

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is presently 3,422.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total value of $228,375.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,863,898.55. The trade was a 1.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total value of $620,355.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,920 shares in the company, valued at $815,198.80. This represents a 43.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 456,234 shares of company stock valued at $42,130,461. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.