Merit Financial Group LLC Decreases Stock Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Merit Financial Group LLC reduced its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 36.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,278 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 6,994 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $995,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 451.1% in the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 321,621 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,055,000 after acquiring an additional 263,264 shares in the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 5,473 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $443,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Harbor Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 71,133 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,762,000 after acquiring an additional 1,586 shares in the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 6,766 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 53.5% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 1,437,031 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $116,414,000 after purchasing an additional 501,105 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gilead Sciences Stock Down 0.8 %

GILD opened at $64.78 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $80.66 billion, a PE ratio of 179.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.22. The business has a 50-day moving average of $70.55 and a 200-day moving average of $75.78. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $64.33 and a fifty-two week high of $87.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.49) by $0.17. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 24.34%. The business had revenue of $6.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.37 EPS. Gilead Sciences’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 3.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.75%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is presently 855.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial cut Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $91.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 27th. Barclays lowered their target price on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Mizuho cut their price target on Gilead Sciences from $101.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.69.

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.