Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Position Boosted by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 27.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,329,743 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 1,141,219 shares during the quarter. Gilead Sciences makes up 0.7% of Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.43% of Gilead Sciences worth $492,308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of Nova Scotia increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 773,847 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $71,480,000 after acquiring an additional 44,233 shares during the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 3,395 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Twin Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 30,394 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,807,000 after purchasing an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,277,915 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,041,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,292,399 shares during the period. Finally, Certior Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $330,000. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. DZ Bank upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.12.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD opened at $105.52 on Tuesday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.07 and a twelve month 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 company has a market cap of $131.39 billion, a PE ratio of 285.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.32. The company’s 50 day moving average is $107.50 and its 200 day moving average is $96.13.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 854.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 142,180 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at $12,626,253.06. This trade represents a 52.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 302,785 shares of company stock worth $30,503,250. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.