United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund Takes Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 2,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $249,000.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GILD. State Street Corp increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,171,691 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,044,795,000 after buying an additional 841,776 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 50.9% during 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 acquiring an additional 11,665,593 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,540,870 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,302,119,000 after acquiring an additional 574,421 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Gilead Sciences by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,002,779 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $739,217,000 after acquiring an additional 249,804 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 723.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,434,665 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $594,370,000 after purchasing an additional 5,653,075 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 142,180 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at $12,626,253.06. This represents a 52.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 302,785 shares of company stock worth $30,503,250 in the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GILD shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $120.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.52.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD opened at $109.27 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $104.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.46. The company has a market cap of $136.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 295.32, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a one year low of $62.07 and a one year 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.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. Research analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.