Rathbones Group PLC Boosts Stock Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Rathbones Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,395 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the quarter. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $314,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GILD. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter worth about $1,789,254,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 40,319,432 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,724,306,000 after buying an additional 7,157,113 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 723.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,434,665 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $594,370,000 after buying an additional 5,653,075 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $207,340,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,277,915 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,041,741,000 after buying an additional 1,292,399 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $105.25 on Thursday. 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 capitalization of $131.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 284.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.32. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $108.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.52.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.79 dividend. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.00%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 854.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GILD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $105.12.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 17,929 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.17, for a total value of $2,118,669.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 169,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,977,938.37. This represents a 9.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 302,785 shares of company stock valued at $30,503,250. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.