Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Shares Purchased by Premier Fund Managers Ltd

Premier Fund Managers Ltd raised its position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 46.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 15,710 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Premier Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $1,445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GILD. State Street Corp boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,171,691 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,044,795,000 after purchasing an additional 841,776 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 50.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,600,676 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,900,921,000 after purchasing an additional 11,665,593 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,540,870 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,302,119,000 after purchasing an additional 574,421 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,789,254,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,002,779 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $739,217,000 after purchasing an additional 249,804 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 1.7 %

GILD stock opened at $111.16 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $138.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 300.43, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.07 and a 1-year high of $119.96. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $94.58.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share (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%. Research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is 854.05%.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 17,929 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 169,061 shares in the company, valued at $19,977,938.37. The trade was a 9.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In the last quarter, insiders sold 302,785 shares of company stock worth $30,503,250. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Oppenheimer boosted 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. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $80.00 to $120.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.12.

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.