Flputnam Investment Management Co. Increases Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 9.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,772 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $533,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GILD. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 79.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,162,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,780,329,000 after purchasing an additional 14,680,161 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 50.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,600,676 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,900,921,000 after buying an additional 11,665,593 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 723.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,434,665 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $594,370,000 after buying an additional 5,653,075 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 350.1% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,305,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $193,274,000 after buying an additional 1,793,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth approximately $87,163,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $115.99 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The company has a market cap of $144.55 billion, a PE ratio of 313.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $97.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.45. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.07 and a 1-year high of $117.16.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 31.63%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.72%. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is 854.05%.

Insider Activity

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the 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 approximately $11,863,898.55. This represents a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders sold 293,356 shares of company stock valued at $29,166,240 in the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $113.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $109.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven equities research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.08.

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.