Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Raises Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,282,507 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 270,576 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned about 0.26% of Gilead Sciences worth $303,205,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Commonwealth Financial Corp PA purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at about $210,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in Gilead Sciences by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,216,798 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $112,396,000 after purchasing an additional 193,133 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 63.7% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 91,653 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,466,000 after purchasing an additional 35,657 shares in the last quarter. Stenger Family Office LLC bought a new position in Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth approximately $310,000. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $387,000. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ GILD opened at $104.88 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $130.59 billion, a PE ratio of 283.46, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.32. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.07 and a 12 month high of $119.96. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $108.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.01%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 854.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on GILD shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, DZ Bank raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Eleven investment 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 142,180 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 52.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 302,785 shares of company stock worth $30,540,875. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.