ZEGA Investments LLC Invests $563,000 in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

ZEGA Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 6,047 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $563,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 79.4% in the third 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 boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 50.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,600,676 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,900,921,000 after acquiring an additional 11,665,593 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 723.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,434,665 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $594,370,000 after purchasing an additional 5,653,075 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth about $207,340,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 350.1% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 142,180 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,626,253.06. This represents a 52.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 302,785 shares of company stock worth $30,503,250. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GILD opened at $107.08 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $103.68 and its 200-day moving average is $93.75. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.07 and a 1-year high of $119.96. The stock has a market cap of $133.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 289.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 yield of 2.95%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 854.05%.

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.