SouthState Corp Reduces Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

SouthState Corp reduced its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 13.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,361 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,649 shares during the period. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $957,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bellevue Group AG boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 18.2% in the third quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 46,027 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,859,000 after acquiring an additional 7,093 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 149.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 81,620 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,843,000 after purchasing an additional 48,910 shares in the last quarter. McAdam LLC boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 25,372 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,344,000 after purchasing an additional 3,627 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 387,492 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $35,793,000 after buying an additional 9,791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 142,167 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,132,000 after buying an additional 5,382 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.52.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

GILD stock opened at $112.26 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $139.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 303.41, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $102.24 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $93.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.07 and a 12-month high of $119.96.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.81%. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 854.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 142,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.22, for a total value of $13,822,739.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at $12,626,253.06. This trade represents a 52.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 302,785 shares of company stock valued at $30,503,250. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.