iA Global Asset Management Inc. Grows Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 199,882 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 24,815 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $18,463,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 10.2% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,047,609 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $171,672,000 after acquiring an additional 189,622 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 18.1% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 169,363 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $14,199,000 after purchasing an additional 25,912 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 163.4% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 8,400 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $704,000 after purchasing an additional 5,211 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 101,048 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $8,472,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares during the period. Finally, OneAscent Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 3rd quarter valued at $256,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 142,180 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.22, for a total value of $13,822,739.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,626,253.06. The trade was a 52.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 302,785 shares of company stock valued at $30,503,250 over the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $80.00 to $120.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $104.52.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

GILD stock traded down $0.34 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $106.74. The company had a trading volume of 8,562,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,800,396. 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 firm has a market cap of $132.93 billion, a PE ratio of 288.49, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 stock's fifty day moving average price is $104.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $94.15.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 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 fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.96%. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Gilead Sciences's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.