V Square Quantitative Management LLC Increases Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 28,796 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,622 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $2,660,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 118.5% during the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 284 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 101.9% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Maxim Group downgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $109.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.33.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 2.6 %

NASDAQ:GILD opened at $105.96 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $132.05 billion, a PE ratio of 1,177.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.18. The business’s 50 day moving average is $93.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.07 and a 52 week high of $106.43.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. On average, analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.35 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.98%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 3,422.22%.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $11,863,898.55. This trade represents a 1.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total transaction of $15,094,275.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 710,500 shares of company stock valued at $67,684,956 in the last quarter. 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.