Arizona State Retirement System Increases Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 359,743 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,550 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $33,229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GILD. FMR LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 14,680,161 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings 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 worth $2,900,921,000 after buying 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 buying an additional 5,653,075 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 350.1% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,305,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $193,274,000 after acquiring an additional 1,793,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth approximately $87,163,000. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Gilead Sciences Stock Down 1.1 %

GILD opened at $114.74 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $143.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 310.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $98.28 and its 200 day moving average is $90.74. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.07 and a fifty-two week high of $117.39.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 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 issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 854.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. Maxim Group downgraded Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.76.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.09, for a total transaction of $260,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 169,061 shares in the company, valued at $17,597,559.49. This trade represents a 1.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 293,356 shares of company stock valued at $29,166,240. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.