Avanza Fonder AB Takes Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 127,115 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,742,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GILD. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 79.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,162,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,780,329,000 after purchasing an additional 14,680,161 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 50.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,600,676 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,900,921,000 after buying an additional 11,665,593 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 350.1% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,305,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $193,274,000 after buying an additional 1,793,145 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 24.7% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,889,663 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $541,310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,564,792 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on GILD shares. Maxim Group cut Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Gilead Sciences from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. 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 report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.96.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

GILD opened at $92.03 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $91.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.76. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.07 and a fifty-two week high of $98.90. The firm has a market cap of $114.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,022.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.18.

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

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3,422.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 80,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,427,227.92. This represents a 67.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 248,645 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.76, for a total value 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 $12,886,126.44. This represents a 64.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 456,234 shares of company stock valued at $42,130,461 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences 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.