Conning Inc. Trims Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Conning Inc. reduced its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) by 8.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 430,096 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 39,181 shares during the period. Gilead Sciences accounts for 1.2% of Conning Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Conning Inc.'s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $34,772,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Abundance Wealth Counselors purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,881,000. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 66.6% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 1,288,884 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $96,589,000 after acquiring an additional 515,191 shares during the last quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 11.7% during the third quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. now owns 42,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,147,000 after acquiring an additional 4,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 33.9% during the third quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 1,535,016 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $115,034,000 after acquiring an additional 388,482 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.18, for a total transaction of $146,360.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 100,936 shares in the company, valued at $7,386,496.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.18, for a total value of $146,360.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 100,936 shares in the company, valued at $7,386,496.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 5,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.78, for a total transaction of $428,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 101,534 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,709,586.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,000 shares of company stock worth $721,180. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on GILD. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $101.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Oppenheimer decreased their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $85.36.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock traded down $0.58 during trading on Friday, hitting $68.07. 5,691,760 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,553,057. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.43. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $76.83. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $67.62 and a 52-week high of $87.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.13, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.19.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $7.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.10 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 38.85% and a net margin of 20.89%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.67 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.08 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.52%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Gilead Sciences's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.