Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Shares Bought by Fmr LLC

Fmr LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 21.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 40,319,432 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,157,113 shares during the quarter. Fmr LLC owned about 3.24% of Gilead Sciences worth $3,724,306,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.5% during the third quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,146 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,102,000 after buying an additional 319 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 149.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 81,620 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,843,000 after acquiring an additional 48,910 shares in the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the third quarter worth about $1,677,000. Voya Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the third quarter worth about $215,000. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 8.7% in the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 97,505 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,175,000 after purchasing an additional 7,801 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 142,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.22, for a total value of $13,822,739.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,626,253.06. This trade represents a 52.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 302,785 shares of company stock worth $30,503,250 over the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GILD. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $120.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.12.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 4.6 %

Shares of GILD opened at $107.25 on Friday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.07 and a 1-year high of $119.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.89. The stock has a market cap of $133.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 289.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.32.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. Equities analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. 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.