Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Buys 198,528 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,546,721 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 198,528 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 0.28% of Gilead Sciences worth $327,612,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GILD. Silverarc Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $924,000. Alta Advisers Ltd raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Alta Advisers Ltd now owns 4,192 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $387,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares in the last quarter. Harvest Investment Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at $304,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 184.5% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 109,283 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $10,094,000 after purchasing an additional 70,872 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transce3nd LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter worth $99,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 137,676 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.22, for a total value of $14,073,240.72. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 171,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,502,415.06. This represents a 44.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 302,785 shares of company stock worth $30,540,875. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of GILD opened at $103.17 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $109.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $98.15. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.07 and a 12 month high of $119.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 278.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.32.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.73 by $0.08. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. The business had revenue of $6.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.32) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 854.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $108.42.

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.