Cozad Asset Management Inc. Reduces Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Cozad Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 69,658 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 3,185 shares during the period. Cozad Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $5,643,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GILD. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,909,619 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,267,207,000 after acquiring an additional 158,794 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,922,488 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,118,291,000 after acquiring an additional 504,475 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,046,652 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $408,829,000 after acquiring an additional 493,920 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,992,415 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $404,435,000 after acquiring an additional 457,576 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,773,688 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $357,740,000 after purchasing an additional 531,314 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock traded down $0.62 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $65.32. 1,975,856 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,413,350. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $71.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 183.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.19. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a one year low of $64.63 and a one year high of $87.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.49) by $0.17. The business had revenue of $6.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.36 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 24.34% and a net margin of 1.76%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.72%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is currently 855.56%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total transaction of $145,920.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,026,339.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GILD. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $78.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Mizuho dropped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $101.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $74.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. HSBC upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $69.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Truist Financial cut Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $91.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.60.

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.