Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Boosts Stock Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 15.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 234,572 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 31,746 shares during the period. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $19,667,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GILD. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 79.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,162,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,780,329,000 after buying an additional 14,680,161 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 8,238.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,642,504 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $137,708,000 after purchasing an additional 1,622,806 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 24.7% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,889,663 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $541,310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,564,792 shares during the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the 2nd quarter worth about $102,298,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 159.8% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,337,717 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $195,994,000 after acquiring an additional 1,437,842 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total transaction of $167,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 100,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,398,843.87. The trade was a 1.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total transaction of $620,355.32. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $815,198.80. The trade was a 43.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 63,735 shares of company stock valued at $5,589,030 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GILD traded up $1.06 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $92.41. The stock had a trading volume of 5,527,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,078,652. The stock has a market cap of $115.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,026.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 0.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.07 and a 12-month high of $98.90. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $87.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.42.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The business’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.37 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3,422.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on GILD. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Leerink Partners raised Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $74.00 to $96.00 in a report on Monday, October 21st. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Maxim Group lowered Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.41.

Gilead Sciences Profile

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.