Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) to Issue Dividend Increase – $0.79 Per Share

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 12th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of 0.79 per share by the biopharmaceutical company on Friday, March 28th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77.

Gilead Sciences has raised its dividend payment by an average of 2.7% annually over the last three years. Gilead Sciences has a payout ratio of 38.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Gilead Sciences to earn $7.60 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $3.08 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 40.5%.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $103.31 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $128.75 billion, a PE ratio of 1,147.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.18. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.24. Gilead Sciences has a twelve month low of $62.07 and a twelve month high of $104.71.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences will post 4.35 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GILD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped 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. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $83.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total transaction of $620,355.32. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,920 shares in the company, valued at $815,198.80. The trade was a 43.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 142,180 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.22, for a total transaction of $13,822,739.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,626,253.06. The trade was a 52.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 572,824 shares of company stock valued at $53,611,715 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

About Gilead Sciences

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.