Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP Sells 907 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP cut its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 11.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,894 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 907 shares during the period. Cognios Beta Neutral Large Cap Fund LP’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $558,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GILD. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 0.9% during the third 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 lifted 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 buying an additional 504,475 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Gilead Sciences by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,046,652 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $408,829,000 after acquiring an additional 493,920 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,773,688 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $357,740,000 after purchasing an additional 531,314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 179.0% during the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,543,985 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $340,526,000 after purchasing an additional 2,915,141 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on GILD. StockNews.com downgraded Gilead Sciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. HSBC upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $69.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were 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 directly owns 96,304 shares in the company, valued at $7,026,339.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Gilead Sciences stock traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $67.08. The company had a trading volume of 8,464,533 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,317,518. The company’s fifty day moving average is $71.68 and its 200-day moving average is $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 capitalization of $83.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.04). Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 38.85% and a net margin of 20.89%. The business had revenue of $7.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.67 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 6.28 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.59%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 68.44%.

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.