Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $6.20 Million Stock Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 6.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 67,136 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 4,844 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $6,201,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GILD. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 118.5% in the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 284 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 325.0% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 340 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GILD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total value of $228,375.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,863,898.55. The trade was a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 302,785 shares of company stock valued at $30,503,250. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Down 2.5 %

GILD stock opened at $107.51 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.89 billion, a PE ratio of 290.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.07 and a twelve month high of $119.96. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $103.00 and its 200-day moving average is $93.47.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.94%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 854.05%.

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.