Wealth Quarterback LLC Buys New Shares in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Wealth Quarterback LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,372 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $219,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GILD. State Street Corp boosted its holdings 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 worth $5,044,795,000 after acquiring an additional 841,776 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 50.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 11,665,593 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 79.4% during the third 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 during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings 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, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,752,975 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $650,009,000 after acquiring an additional 224,960 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In related 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 value of $228,375.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,863,898.55. This represents a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total value of $620,355.32. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,920 shares in the company, valued at $815,198.80. This trade represents a 43.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 710,500 shares of company stock worth $67,684,956 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD opened at $104.08 on Monday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.07 and a 12-month high of $106.69. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $93.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.70. The company has a market capitalization of $129.71 billion, a PE ratio of 1,156.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.35 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3,422.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GILD shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Leerink Partners upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $74.00 to $96.00 in a research note on Monday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. DZ Bank upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.33.

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.