Alps Advisors Inc. Sells 45,008 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Key Points

• Alps Advisors cut its Gilead stake by 66.3% in the third quarter, selling 45,008 shares and retaining 22,873 shares valued at about $3.4 million.
• Gilead reported quarterly earnings of $2.55 per share and revenue of $8.30 billion, beating analyst expectations; revenue rose 6.8% year over year.
• Analysts’ consensus rating is “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $170.15. Gilead also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share.

Alps Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) by 66.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,873 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 45,008 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $3,409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. PFS Partners LLC grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 101.1% during the third quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 191 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the second quarter worth $25,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the third quarter worth $29,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the second quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Toth Financial Advisory Corp grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 85.5% in the 3rd quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 217 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In related news, CFO Andrew Dickinson sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.22, for a total value of $468,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 161,096 shares in the company, valued at $25,166,417.12. The trade was a 1.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $156.22, for a total value of $468,660.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 113,684 shares in the company, valued at $17,759,714.48. The trade was a 2.57% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 242,709 shares of company stock valued at $39,503,427. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GILD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $158.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Leerink Partners lowered Gilead Sciences from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $146.00 to $127.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Monday, November 2nd. Barclays lowered their price target on Gilead Sciences from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, October 30th. Twenty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $170.15.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 1.5%

NASDAQ:GILD opened at $169.32 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $153.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $141.14. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a twelve month low of $116.88 and a twelve month high of $176.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $210.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -53.58 and a beta of 0.35.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.36. The business had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.81 billion. Gilead Sciences had a negative return on equity of 1.85% and a negative net margin of 12.47%. The firm's revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.47 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post -1.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 15th. Gilead Sciences's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -103.80%.

About Gilead Sciences

Gilead Sciences, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and commercializes medicines for serious diseases. Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Foster City, California, the company focuses on antiviral therapies, including treatments and preventive medicines for HIV and medicines for viral hepatitis. Its products include Biktarvy for HIV and Epclusa for hepatitis C.

Gilead also develops medicines in areas such as oncology and inflammatory diseases. Its portfolio includes Veklury (remdesivir), an antiviral medicine used to treat COVID-19.

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