Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Has $1.01 Million Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 10,909 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,125 shares during the period. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $1,005,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of GILD. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 67,103 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,198,000 after buying an additional 8,678 shares during the last quarter. Westpac Banking Corp raised its stake in Gilead Sciences by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Westpac Banking Corp now owns 80,298 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,417,000 after acquiring an additional 1,449 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,580 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $322,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Disciplined Investors L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at $269,000. Finally, OneAscent Financial Services LLC raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 45.1% in the fourth quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC now owns 4,426 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $409,000 after purchasing an additional 1,376 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, 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. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $105.12.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 142,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at $12,626,253.06. This trade represents a 52.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 302,785 shares of company stock valued at $30,503,250. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Gilead Sciences Stock Down 4.6 %

GILD stock opened at $107.25 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $133.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 289.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.32. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $107.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.80. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.07 and a 12 month high of $119.96.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase 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 (DPR) 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.