Clearbridge Investments LLC Has $367.06 Million Stock Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Clearbridge Investments LLC decreased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 23.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,973,798 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,202,502 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $367,060,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth about $1,789,254,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position 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 last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 723.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,434,665 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $594,370,000 after acquiring an additional 5,653,075 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $207,340,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 350.1% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,305,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $193,274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,793,145 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 142,180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.22, for a total value of $13,822,739.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at $12,626,253.06. The trade was a 52.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 302,785 shares of company stock valued at $30,503,250 over the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD opened at $111.79 on Friday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.07 and a 12-month high of $119.96. The company has a market cap 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $105.48 and a 200 day moving average of $94.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its 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 net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 31.63%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is currently 854.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on GILD. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target 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. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.