Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Shares Purchased by Financial Counselors Inc.

Financial Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,887 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $821,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 118.5% in the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 284 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 325.0% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 340 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GILD shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $80.00 to $120.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. 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, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $105.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total value of $228,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,863,898.55. This represents a 1.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 302,785 shares of company stock worth $30,503,250 over the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 0.6 %

GILD stock opened at $111.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The firm has a market cap of $139.22 billion, a PE ratio of 302.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.07 and a 12 month high of $119.96. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.81.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. 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 2.83%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 854.05%.

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.