Howard Capital Management Inc. Purchases 4,574 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 12.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 41,922 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,574 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $3,872,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GILD. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 79.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,162,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,780,329,000 after buying an additional 14,680,161 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 50.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,600,676 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,900,921,000 after buying an additional 11,665,593 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 723.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,434,665 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $594,370,000 after buying an additional 5,653,075 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 350.1% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,305,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $193,274,000 after buying an additional 1,793,145 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 8,238.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,642,504 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $137,708,000 after buying an additional 1,622,806 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total value of $15,094,275.12. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 80,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,427,227.92. This trade represents a 67.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 248,645 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.76, for a total transaction of $23,064,310.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 138,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,886,126.44. The trade was a 64.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 713,000 shares of company stock valued at $67,945,181. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Maxim Group cut shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.08.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock opened at $109.95 on Friday. 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 cap of $137.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 297.16, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.18. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.73. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.07 and a fifty-two week high of $111.03.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.87%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 832.43%.

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.