Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. Raises Stock Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Greatmark Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 33,032 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 620 shares during the quarter. Greatmark Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $3,051,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GILD. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 79.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,162,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,780,329,000 after acquiring an additional 14,680,161 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 50.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,600,676 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,900,921,000 after acquiring an additional 11,665,593 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 723.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,434,665 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $594,370,000 after acquiring an additional 5,653,075 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth approximately $207,340,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased 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 acquiring an additional 1,793,145 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 1.7 %

NASDAQ GILD opened at $111.44 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $92.71. The stock has a market cap of $138.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 301.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.07 and a 12-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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 31.63%. On average, analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 311,285 shares of company stock valued at $31,284,910 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on GILD shares. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.