Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Increases Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 14.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 67,103 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,678 shares during the period. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $6,198,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,171,691 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,044,795,000 after acquiring an additional 841,776 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,659,007 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,293,822,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,331 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,289,917 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,608,337,000 after purchasing an additional 749,047 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,789,254,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,002,779 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $739,217,000 after purchasing an additional 249,804 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on GILD shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 17,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.17, for a total transaction of $2,118,669.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 169,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,977,938.37. The trade was a 9.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 302,785 shares of company stock worth $30,503,250. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of GILD opened at $111.89 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $139.32 billion, a PE ratio of 302.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.32. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.07 and a 1-year high of $119.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $106.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $95.52.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its 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%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 854.05%.

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.