Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 2,100 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 8.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,572 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,100 shares during the quarter. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $1,809,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GILD. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in Gilead Sciences in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 101.9% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 198.3% during the 2nd quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 358 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 51.6% during the second quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total transaction of $167,660.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 100,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,398,843.87. The trade was a 1.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total value of $2,459,529.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 78,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,545,480.06. The trade was a 27.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 56,947 shares of company stock valued at $4,968,674. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $83.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.86.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 4.0 %

NASDAQ GILD opened at $88.40 on Friday. 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 $86.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $110.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 982.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.17.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The firm had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 3,422.22%.

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.