Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators Sells 1,077 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators decreased its holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 5.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 17,064 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,077 shares during the quarter. Gilead Sciences accounts for about 0.8% of Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators’ portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators’ holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $1,576,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 400,819 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,645,000 after acquiring an additional 51,390 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 10.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,047,609 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $171,672,000 after purchasing an additional 189,622 shares during the period. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the third quarter worth approximately $90,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 8,238.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,642,504 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $137,708,000 after purchasing an additional 1,622,806 shares during the period. Finally, Cambridge Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the 3rd quarter valued at $222,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total transaction of $228,375.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,863,898.55. This represents a 1.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total value of $15,094,275.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 80,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,427,227.92. The trade was a 67.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 713,000 shares of company stock worth $67,945,181 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Gilead Sciences from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Gilead Sciences in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Daiwa America raised shares of Gilead Sciences to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.08.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD opened at $109.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $137.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 297.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 0.18. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $95.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.63. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.07 and a fifty-two week high of $111.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.50.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 31.63%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 832.43%.

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.