CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Trims Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co reduced its position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,096,664 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 72,343 shares during the period. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned about 0.17% of Gilead Sciences worth $193,530,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,789,254,000. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 40,319,432 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,724,306,000 after buying an additional 7,157,113 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 723.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,434,665 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $594,370,000 after buying an additional 5,653,075 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter worth $207,340,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,277,915 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,041,741,000 after buying an additional 1,292,399 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on GILD shares. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.12.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

GILD stock opened at $104.88 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $130.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 283.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.32. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $108.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $97.16. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.07 and a 12-month high of $119.96.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) 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 predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.79 dividend. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is presently 854.05%.

Insider Activity

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 17,929 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.17, for a total value of $2,118,669.93. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 169,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,977,938.37. This trade represents a 9.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 302,785 shares of company stock valued at $30,540,875. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Gilead Sciences 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.