First Financial Bank Trust Division Sells 2,575 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

First Financial Bank Trust Division lowered its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 74,597 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,575 shares during the quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $6,891,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,171,691 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,044,795,000 after purchasing an additional 841,776 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 50.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,600,676 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,900,921,000 after acquiring an additional 11,665,593 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 79.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,162,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,780,329,000 after acquiring an additional 14,680,161 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 2.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,540,870 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,302,119,000 after purchasing an additional 574,421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Gilead Sciences by 0.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,414,268 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $851,743,000 after purchasing an additional 93,068 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on GILD shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Maxim Group lowered shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.43.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Gilead Sciences stock traded down $0.54 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $91.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,384,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,043,598. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $114.44 billion, a PE ratio of 1,020.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.18. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.07 and a 52 week high of $98.90. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $91.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.15.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.44. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The business had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.29 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.35 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3,422.22%.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In related news, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total value of $620,355.32. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $815,198.80. The trade was a 43.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 248,645 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.76, for a total value of $23,064,310.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 138,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,886,126.44. The trade was a 64.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 453,734 shares of company stock valued at $41,902,086 in the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Gilead Sciences Company 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.