Meeder Asset Management Inc. Acquires 24,571 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 12.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 214,606 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 24,571 shares during the period. Gilead Sciences accounts for about 1.4% of Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $19,823,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Bellevue Group AG lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 18.2% in the third quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 46,027 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,859,000 after buying an additional 7,093 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 149.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 81,620 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,843,000 after purchasing an additional 48,910 shares during the last quarter. McAdam LLC boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 25,372 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,344,000 after purchasing an additional 3,627 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 387,492 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $35,793,000 after purchasing an additional 9,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 142,167 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,132,000 after purchasing an additional 5,382 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 142,180 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,626,253.06. This represents a 52.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 302,785 shares of company stock valued at $30,503,250. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Gilead Sciences stock opened at $111.79 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.00. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a one year low of $62.07 and a one year high of $119.96. The company has a market capitalization of $139.22 billion, a PE ratio of 302.14, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. 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. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 854.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GILD has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.12.

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.