O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Purchases 110,056 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 53.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 317,302 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 110,056 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $29,309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 1.4% in 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 during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 50.9% in the third 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. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 worth $2,302,119,000 after acquiring an additional 574,421 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at $1,789,254,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,002,779 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $739,217,000 after purchasing an additional 249,804 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GILD. Bank of America upped 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. DZ Bank raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.12.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ GILD opened at $111.79 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $139.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 302.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $105.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.90. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.07 and a 1 year high of $119.96.

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

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.83%. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 854.05%.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total transaction of $228,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,863,898.55. The trade was a 1.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 302,785 shares of company stock worth $30,503,250. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.