Encompass More Asset Management Increases Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Encompass More Asset Management lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 22.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,884 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 1,066 shares during the quarter. Encompass More Asset Management’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $544,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GILD. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.4% during the third 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 boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 50.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,600,676 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,900,921,000 after buying an additional 11,665,593 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in Gilead Sciences by 79.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,162,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,780,329,000 after acquiring an additional 14,680,161 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.1% during 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 acquiring an additional 574,421 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 0.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,414,268 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $851,743,000 after acquiring an additional 93,068 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Gilead Sciences stock opened at $93.09 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $116.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,032.40, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.18. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.07 and a 52-week high of $98.90.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. The firm had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 3,422.22%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total transaction of $2,341,485.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 99,599 shares in the company, valued at $9,113,308.50. This trade represents a 20.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total value of $620,355.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $815,198.80. This represents a 43.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 456,234 shares of company stock valued at $42,130,461 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on GILD. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Gilead Sciences from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $87.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $84.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 price objective on the stock. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.96.

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.