IFP Advisors Inc Grows Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 146.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,330 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,919 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $1,231,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth about $1,546,000. Delta Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter worth about $374,000. Atlantic Family Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter worth about $370,000. Pavion Blue Capital LLC bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter worth about $217,000. Finally, Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 41,922 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,872,000 after acquiring an additional 4,574 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GILD has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup started coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective on the stock. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.08.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock opened at $110.46 on Thursday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.07 and a 52-week high of $112.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 298.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a fifty day moving average of $96.56 and a 200-day moving average of $89.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.50.

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 net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 31.63%. Equities research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.86%. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 854.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.96, for a total transaction of $781,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 132,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,173,021.08. This represents a 6.03 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 542,001 shares of company stock valued at $52,230,551 in the last quarter. Company 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.