Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Acquires 270,576 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) by 9.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,282,507 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 270,576 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 0.26% of Gilead Sciences worth $303,205,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GILD. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 118.5% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 284 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 325.0% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 340 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GILD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, DZ Bank raised Gilead Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $108.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Eleven equities 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $105.12.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 137,676 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.22, for a total transaction of $14,073,240.72. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 171,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,502,415.06. This represents a 44.57 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 302,785 shares of company stock worth $30,540,875 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD traded down $0.39 during trading on Friday, reaching $104.49. 8,066,368 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,519,796. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.07 and a 52-week high of $119.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $130.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 282.40, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.32. 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 business's fifty day moving average is $109.16 and its 200-day moving average is $97.45.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. As a group, analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 854.05%.

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.