Sage Mountain Advisors LLC Buys 1,023 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Sage Mountain Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 20.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,112 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,023 shares during the period. Sage Mountain Advisors LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $565,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 57.7% during the 4th quarter. Ranch Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 19,555 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,806,000 after purchasing an additional 7,153 shares in the last quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 35.4% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 32,128 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,968,000 after buying an additional 8,398 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 10.3% in the 4th quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 16,629 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,536,000 after buying an additional 1,549 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 344,783 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,847,000 after acquiring an additional 39,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 66.4% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 1,411,679 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $130,397,000 after acquiring an additional 563,444 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded Gilead Sciences to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. 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 MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 169,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,597,559.49. This trade represents a 1.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 293,356 shares of company stock worth $29,166,240. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

GILD stock opened at $114.43 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.18. The stock has a market cap of $142.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 309.27, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.07 and a 1 year high of $119.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.20.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 31.63%. Research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 854.05%.

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.