Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Stake Boosted by UniSuper Management Pty Ltd

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 79.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 410,659 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 181,510 shares during the quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $37,933,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Southland Equity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 3,128 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Bank raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 3,398 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 4,265 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 11,354 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,049,000 after buying an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 13,597 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,256,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised their price target on Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.52.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 142,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.22, for a total transaction of $13,822,739.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at $12,626,253.06. This represents a 52.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold a total of 302,785 shares of company stock worth $30,503,250 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ:GILD opened at $109.27 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $136.08 billion, a PE ratio of 295.32, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.50. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.07 and a 52-week high of $119.96.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.89%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 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.