Avanza Fonder AB Purchases New Shares in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Avanza Fonder AB bought a new position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 127,115 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,742,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,171,691 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,044,795,000 after purchasing an additional 841,776 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 50.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,600,676 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,900,921,000 after purchasing an additional 11,665,593 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 79.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,162,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,780,329,000 after acquiring an additional 14,680,161 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 2.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,540,870 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,302,119,000 after purchasing an additional 574,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 0.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,414,268 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $851,743,000 after purchasing an additional 93,068 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total value of $2,341,485.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 99,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,113,308.50. The trade was a 20.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total value of $228,375.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,863,898.55. This represents a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 456,234 shares of company stock valued at $42,130,461. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 0.4 %

GILD opened at $92.03 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.76. The company has a market cap of $114.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,022.53, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.18. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a one year low of $62.07 and a one year high of $98.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. The company had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. Gilead Sciences’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3,422.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on GILD shares. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Maxim Group cut Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price for the company. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.96.

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.