19,471 Shares in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Purchased by Providence First Trust Co

Providence First Trust Co purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 19,471 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,799,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in Gilead Sciences by 14.7% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 400,819 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $33,645,000 after purchasing an additional 51,390 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 10.2% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,047,609 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $171,672,000 after buying an additional 189,622 shares during the period. Diversify Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 48.6% in the third quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,115 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $533,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 404.7% during the third quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,034 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,631 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Advocates Investment Management increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 4.6% during the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 15,111 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,267,000 after acquiring an additional 665 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 142,180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.22, for a total transaction of $13,822,739.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,626,253.06. The trade was a 52.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 293,356 shares of company stock valued at $29,166,240 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GILD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Maxim Group cut Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.08.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $114.31 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $142.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 308.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.18. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $97.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.94. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.07 and a 52-week high of $114.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 854.05%.

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.