Griffith & Werner Inc. Makes New Investment in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Griffith & Werner Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 14,436 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,333,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bridgewater Associates LP grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 122.7% during the fourth quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 460,936 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $42,577,000 after buying an additional 253,994 shares during the period. McAdam LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 25,372 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,344,000 after acquiring an additional 3,627 shares during the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 284,243 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,750,000 after acquiring an additional 14,009 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 142,167 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,132,000 after acquiring an additional 5,382 shares during the period. Finally, Foster & Motley Inc. increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 80.4% in the 4th quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 10,587 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $978,000 after purchasing an additional 4,718 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were 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 trade 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 this hyperlink. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.52, for a total value of $3,010,560.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 121,152 shares in the company, valued at $13,026,263.04. The trade was a 18.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 50,929 shares of company stock valued at $5,644,780 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on GILD. Bank of America lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.55.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock opened at $107.37 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $133.56 billion, a PE ratio of 290.19, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $105.27 and a 200 day moving average of $100.30. 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 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. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. The firm had revenue of $6.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($1.32) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.94%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is currently 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.