Ariel Investments LLC Boosts Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Ariel Investments LLC lifted its position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 68.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 399,794 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 162,746 shares during the quarter. Ariel Investments LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $36,929,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GILD. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 118.5% in the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 284 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 325.0% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 340 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GILD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $120.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price 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, DZ Bank upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.55.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.40, for a total value of $266,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 168,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,893,713.60. This represents a 1.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 160,605 shares of company stock valued at $16,718,136. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD opened at $103.68 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $108.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.82. The company has a market cap of $129.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 280.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.32. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.07 and a 12 month high of $119.96.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. Gilead Sciences’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($1.32) EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.05%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.53%.

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.