Waverly Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 29,181 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 2,320 shares during the quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $2,695,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 40,319,432 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,724,306,000 after buying an additional 7,157,113 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Gilead Sciences by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,659,007 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,293,822,000 after buying an additional 1,058,331 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Gilead Sciences by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,289,917 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,608,337,000 after buying an additional 749,047 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,789,254,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Gilead Sciences by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,915,095 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,377,707,000 after buying an additional 2,458,954 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GILD has been the subject of several analyst reports. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $132.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $110.55.

Gilead Sciences Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD opened at $107.72 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $134.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 291.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.26. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.07 and a 1-year high of $119.96. The company’s fifty day moving average is $105.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.50.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $6.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.77 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 31.63%. The firm’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($1.32) earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.53%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 17,929 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.17, for a total value of $2,118,669.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 169,061 shares in the company, valued at $19,977,938.37. This represents a 9.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 22,929 shares of company stock valued at $2,634,220 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.27% 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.