Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 730,498 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Retirement Systems of Alabama cut its position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) by 73.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 267,809 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 730,498 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama's holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $30,008,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Redwood Financial Network Corp grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 2,530 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,580 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $322,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,040 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $677,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 3,880 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $435,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CFO4Life Group LLC grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 4,265 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GILD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $132.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $110.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.40, for a total transaction of $266,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 168,174 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,893,713.60. This trade represents a 1.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.52, for a total transaction of $3,010,560.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 121,152 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,026,263.04. This represents a 18.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 48,500 shares of company stock worth $5,236,245. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 0.5%

GILD stock traded up $0.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $108.50. 23,266,621 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,661,575. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market cap of $134.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.29. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $106.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $102.81. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1-year low of $66.01 and a 1-year high of $119.96.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 20.76% and a return on equity of 51.93%. The business's quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($1.32) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.91%. Gilead Sciences's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.53%.

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.