84,672 Shares in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Purchased by Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations

Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 84,672 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,821,000.

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

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GILD opened at $109.27 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $136.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 295.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $104.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.46. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.07 and a twelve month high of $119.96. 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 (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is presently 854.05%.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total transaction of $228,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at $11,863,898.55. This represents a 1.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold 302,785 shares of company stock valued at $30,503,250 over the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GILD shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $120.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. DZ Bank upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.52.

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.