Confluence Investment Management LLC Has $108.71 Million Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Confluence Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,176,858 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 14,136 shares during the quarter. Gilead Sciences comprises approximately 1.5% of Confluence Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Confluence Investment Management LLC owned about 0.09% of Gilead Sciences worth $108,706,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Lantz Financial LLC lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 24,920 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,710,000 after acquiring an additional 840 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the second quarter valued at approximately $265,000. Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 10.1% during the second quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 4,173 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 0.4% during the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 107,024 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,343,000 after buying an additional 476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Founders Financial Securities LLC raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 12,245 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $840,000 after buying an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.43.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

GILD stock traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $92.11. 561,844 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,043,598. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $91.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $82.15. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.07 and a 52-week high of $98.90. The company has a market capitalization of $114.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,023.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The company had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. Gilead Sciences’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 3,422.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total value of $620,355.32. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $815,198.80. This represents a 43.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total transaction of $15,094,275.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 80,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,427,227.92. This represents a 67.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 453,734 shares of company stock worth $41,902,086 in the last ninety days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.