Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Stock Position Cut by Meritage Portfolio Management

Meritage Portfolio Management lessened its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 65,558 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 342 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $5,311,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nilsine Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.1% in the third quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 11,894 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $891,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 18,318 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,486,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc. increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 8,862 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $718,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,607 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Institutional & Family Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 10.3% during the third quarter. Institutional & Family Asset Management LLC now owns 1,501 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $112,000 after buying an additional 140 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total transaction of $145,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 96,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,026,339.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock traded up $0.43 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $65.70. The company had a trading volume of 8,714,550 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,428,588. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.32. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1-year low of $64.63 and a 1-year high of $87.86. The company has a market capitalization of $81.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.19.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.49) by $0.17. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 38.85%. The firm had revenue of $6.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.37 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.69%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial lowered Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $91.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Barclays cut their target price on Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $78.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.87.

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.