Madison Investment Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 4,000 Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Madison Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 4,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $369,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,422 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $782,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 3,128 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 3.8% in the third quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 3,056 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Berkshire Bank grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 3,398 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CFO4Life Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 4,265 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $394,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on GILD shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted 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 note on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 17,929 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.17, for a total transaction of $2,118,669.93. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 169,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,977,938.37. This trade represents a 9.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 311,285 shares of company stock worth $31,284,910. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

GILD stock opened at $111.44 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $138.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 301.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.07 and a 52-week high of $119.96. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $101.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.71. 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 results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. Research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 854.05%.

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.