South Dakota Investment Council Grows Stock Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

South Dakota Investment Council grew its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 222,411 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,025 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $18,018,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GILD. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 4,753 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. PFG Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 24.1% during the 3rd quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 3,361 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $252,000 after purchasing an additional 652 shares during the period. Montecito Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter. Montecito Bank & Trust now owns 6,602 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 771 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the 3rd quarter valued at about $370,000. Finally, 1900 Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences in the third quarter valued at about $363,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Friday. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $101.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.71.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock traded up $0.08 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $67.03. 5,239,545 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,302,715. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $71.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.46. The stock has a market cap of $83.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.19. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12-month low of $65.90 and a 12-month high of $87.86.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.04). Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 38.85% and a net margin of 20.89%. The business had revenue of $7.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.10 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.67 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.77 dividend. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.44%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total value of $145,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 96,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,026,339.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.