Bank of Montreal Can Reduces Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Bank of Montreal Can trimmed its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,301,657 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 75,415 shares during the quarter. Bank of Montreal Can’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $304,974,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. McAdam LLC grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 25,372 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,344,000 after purchasing an additional 3,627 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 387,492 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $35,793,000 after buying an additional 9,791 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 142,167 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,132,000 after acquiring an additional 5,382 shares during the last quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 1,222.0% during the fourth quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 6,068 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $561,000 after acquiring an additional 5,609 shares during the period. Finally, Exome Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the third quarter worth about $4,192,000. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock opened at $107.25 on Monday. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $62.07 and a one year high of $119.96. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $107.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $95.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 289.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.32.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 EPS 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%. Analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.79 dividend. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 854.05%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GILD. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. DZ Bank upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $105.12.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 142,180 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,626,253.06. The trade was a 52.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 302,785 shares of company stock worth $30,503,250 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.