C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. Invests $351,000 in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,801 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $351,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 118.5% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 284 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 325.0% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 340 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on GILD. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $105.12.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 142,180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.22, for a total value of $13,822,739.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,626,253.06. The trade was a 52.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold 302,785 shares of company stock valued at $30,503,250 over the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

GILD stock opened at $111.79 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $139.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 302.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.48 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.00. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.07 and a 1 year high of $119.96.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 31.63%. Research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 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.