QRG Capital Management Inc. Increases Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 258,585 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,141 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $23,885,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings 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 buying an additional 841,776 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 50.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 11,665,593 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 79.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,162,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,780,329,000 after acquiring an additional 14,680,161 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,540,870 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,302,119,000 after acquiring an additional 574,421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,752,975 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $650,009,000 after acquiring an additional 224,960 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $83.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $109.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.08.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 8,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.96, for a total transaction of $781,660.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 132,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,173,021.08. The trade was a 6.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 542,001 shares of company stock worth $52,230,551. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

GILD opened at $110.46 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $96.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.49. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.07 and a 1 year high of $112.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $137.66 billion, a PE ratio of 298.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.18.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. Research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. 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 2.86%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is presently 854.05%.

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.