Private Management Group Inc. Sells 1,671 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Private Management Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 451,040 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,671 shares during the period. Gilead Sciences makes up about 1.4% of Private Management Group Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Private Management Group Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $36,539,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 158,794 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.5% in the third 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 period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 10.8% in the fourth 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 period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 12.5% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,773,688 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $357,740,000 after acquiring an additional 531,314 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 179.0% in the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,543,985 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $340,526,000 after acquiring an additional 2,915,141 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

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 value of $145,920.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,304 shares in the company, valued at $7,026,339.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $67.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,239,545 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,302,715. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $71.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.46. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.90 and a 12-month high of $87.86. The company has a market cap of $83.46 billion, a PE ratio of 14.90, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.43.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $7.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.10 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 38.85%. Gilead Sciences’s revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.67 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.77 dividend. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.59%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is currently 68.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on GILD shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays cut their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 4th. Mizuho cut their price target on Gilead Sciences from $101.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.71.

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.