West Michigan Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

West Michigan Advisors LLC increased its position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 18.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,705 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 4,173 shares during the period. West Michigan Advisors LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $3,278,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GILD. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 3,763.8% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,223,304 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $518,368,000 after purchasing an additional 4,113,999 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 154.3% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,089,283 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $342,910,000 after purchasing an additional 1,874,508 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 12.0% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,139,681 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,680,505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,618,453 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 46.7% during the third quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 3,845,379 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $426,837,000 after purchasing an additional 1,223,895 shares during the period. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the third quarter valued at approximately $133,049,000. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CEO Daniel Patrick O’day sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.79, for a total value of $1,447,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 642,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,999,775.32. This represents a 1.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.96, for a total value of $422,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 176,191 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,835,883.36. The trade was a 1.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 294,280 shares of company stock worth $42,302,950. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GILD. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $128.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $155.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Twenty-four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $157.35.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $132.90 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.55. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $143.30 and its 200-day moving average price is $131.89. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $93.37 and a fifty-two week high of $157.29. The company has a market cap of $164.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.63, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.39.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.03. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 28.90%.The firm had revenue of $7.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.450-8.850 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 8.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th were issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.45%.

About Gilead Sciences

Gilead Sciences, Inc, founded in 1987 and headquartered in Foster City, California, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of medicines in areas of high unmet medical need. The company initially built its reputation in antiviral therapies and has since expanded into oncology, cell therapy and inflammatory diseases. Gilead operates a global research and commercial organization, conducting clinical development and selling medicines in markets around the world.

Gilead’s product portfolio is anchored by antiviral therapies for HIV and viral hepatitis.