Ballentine Partners LLC Sells 4,084 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Ballentine Partners LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 27.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,051 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 4,084 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $809,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 75.3% during the third quarter. Cary Street Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,289 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $321,000 after buying an additional 1,842 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 70.3% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 47,084 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,528,000 after purchasing an additional 19,436 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 7.3% during the third quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 2,898 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Operose Advisors LLC grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 124.0% in the 3rd quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $182,000 after purchasing an additional 1,348 shares in the last quarter. Finally, O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 220,849 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $16,550,000 after buying an additional 32,790 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,026,339.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

GILD traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $71.22. The stock had a trading volume of 597,032 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,556,916. The company has a market cap of $88.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 196.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.20. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.07 and a 1 year high of $87.86. The business has a fifty day moving average of $65.74 and a 200 day moving average of $72.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.32) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.49) by $0.17. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 24.34%. The company had revenue of $6.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.37 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.32%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 855.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $78.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $74.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Twelve 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.47.

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.