Capital International Ltd. CA Sells 18,042 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Capital International Ltd. CA reduced its holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) by 27.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 48,509 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 18,042 shares during the period. Capital International Ltd. CA's holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $4,481,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GILD. Commerce Bank raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 73,195 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $6,761,000 after acquiring an additional 701 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 3,282,507 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $303,205,000 after purchasing an additional 270,576 shares during the period. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at $210,000. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 18.9% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,216,798 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $112,396,000 after buying an additional 193,133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in Gilead Sciences by 63.7% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 91,653 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $8,466,000 after buying an additional 35,657 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Gilead Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $106.92.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of GILD traded down $0.17 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $105.34. 3,343,824 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,495,909. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.07 and a 52 week high of $119.96. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $109.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.82. The firm has a market cap of $131.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 284.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.32.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Gilead Sciences's payout ratio is 854.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 302,785 shares of company stock worth $30,540,875 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

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.