HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Has $1.82 Million Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lowered its holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,962 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 688 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $1,823,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GILD. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,789,254,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 11,665,593 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 723.3% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,434,665 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $594,370,000 after acquiring an additional 5,653,075 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at $207,340,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew 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 purchasing an additional 1,793,145 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ GILD opened at $112.05 on Tuesday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.07 and a 12 month high of $119.96. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $105.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $95.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $139.54 billion, a PE ratio of 302.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. Research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS 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 issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date was 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 2.82%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 854.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GILD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. 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. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.12.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total transaction of $228,375.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,863,898.55. This trade represents a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 302,785 shares of company stock valued at $30,503,250 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.