Fisher Funds Management LTD Buys New Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Fisher Funds Management LTD bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 66,190 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,096,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 291,278 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,905,000 after purchasing an additional 16,591 shares during the period. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $265,000. Oxbow Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Oxbow Advisors LLC now owns 71,941 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,645,000 after buying an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Bell Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Bell Bank now owns 118,187 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $10,917,000 after buying an additional 5,546 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 51,929 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,797,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of GILD opened at $109.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.50. The company has a market cap of $137.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 297.16, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $95.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $88.73. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.07 and a 52-week high of $111.03.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. Analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 is a boost 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 2.87%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 832.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total value of $620,355.32. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $815,198.80. The trade was a 43.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.09, for a total transaction of $260,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 169,061 shares in the company, valued at $17,597,559.49. This represents a 1.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 713,000 shares of company stock valued at $67,945,181. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GILD has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.08.

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.