DnB Asset Management AS Raises Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

DnB Asset Management AS raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 303,103 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 14,626 shares during the period. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $27,998,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GILD. Bellevue Group AG increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 18.2% during the third quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 46,027 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,859,000 after acquiring an additional 7,093 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 149.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 81,620 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,843,000 after purchasing an additional 48,910 shares during the period. McAdam LLC increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 25,372 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,344,000 after purchasing an additional 3,627 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 387,492 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $35,793,000 after purchasing an additional 9,791 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 142,167 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $13,132,000 after purchasing an additional 5,382 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of GILD opened at $111.79 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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $105.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $94.81. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.07 and a twelve month high of $119.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $139.22 billion, a PE ratio of 302.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 854.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total value of $228,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at $11,863,898.55. This trade represents a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders sold 302,785 shares of company stock valued at $30,503,250. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GILD has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.12.

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.