Heritage Trust Co Buys Shares of 40,679 Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Heritage Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 40,679 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,758,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GILD. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,580 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Southland Equity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 3,128 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Bank increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 3,398 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. CFO4Life Group LLC raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 4,265 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $394,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Howe & Rusling Inc. lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 4,704 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $435,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total value of $228,375.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at $11,863,898.55. The trade was a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 302,785 shares of company stock valued at $30,503,250. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $105.12.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

GILD opened at $101.40 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $108.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $96.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $126.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 274.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.32. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.07 and a 12 month high of $119.96.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released 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%. On average, research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.12%. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.