Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Buys 13,086 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) by 54.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,051 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after acquiring an additional 13,086 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $3,422,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GILD. Westside Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,443 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 917 shares during the period. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 5.4% during the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,482 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $711,000 after buying an additional 435 shares during the period. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the 3rd quarter worth about $209,000. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 33.6% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 25,999 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,180,000 after buying an additional 6,535 shares during the period. Finally, Arvest Bank Trust Division purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 3rd quarter worth about $9,661,000. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of GILD stock traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $104.49. The stock had a trading volume of 8,066,368 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,515,503. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.07 and a twelve month high of $119.96. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $130.10 billion, a PE ratio of 282.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.32. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $108.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $97.30.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share 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 given a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences's previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Gilead Sciences's dividend payout ratio is currently 854.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 17,929 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.17, for a total transaction of $2,118,669.93. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 169,061 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,977,938.37. The trade was a 9.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 302,785 shares of company stock valued at $30,540,875. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GILD shares. 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 report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $105.12.

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.