Sherman Asset Management Inc. Takes $178,000 Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Sherman Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,931 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $178,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 118.5% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 284 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 325.0% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 340 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on GILD shares. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $83.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total transaction of $228,375.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at $11,863,898.55. This represents a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 293,356 shares of company stock worth $29,166,240 over the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ:GILD opened at $114.31 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.50. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a one year low of $62.07 and a one year high of $114.77. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $97.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.05. The stock has a market cap of $142.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 308.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.18.

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

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.