Mechanics Bank Trust Department Cuts Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Mechanics Bank Trust Department cut its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 5.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,957 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $363,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 18,318 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,486,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 8,862 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.7% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,607 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Steph & Co. grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 7,548 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $611,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 4,342 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GILD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price 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. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, June 20th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $69.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 96,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,026,339.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 1.6 %

GILD opened at $69.61 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 193.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.20. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.07 and a 12 month high of $87.86. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $65.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $72.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.32) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.49) by $0.17. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 24.34%. The firm had revenue of $6.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.42%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 855.56%.

Gilead Sciences 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.