Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Raises Stock Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. grew its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 5.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,763 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,370 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $2,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in Gilead Sciences by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,171,691 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,044,795,000 after purchasing an additional 841,776 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 50.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,600,676 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,900,921,000 after buying an additional 11,665,593 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 79.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,162,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,780,329,000 after acquiring an additional 14,680,161 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,540,870 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,302,119,000 after acquiring an additional 574,421 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,002,779 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $739,217,000 after acquiring an additional 249,804 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on GILD shares. Bank of America raised 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. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. 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 research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, DZ Bank raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Eleven equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.52.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

NASDAQ GILD opened at $107.89 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $104.35 and its 200 day moving average is $94.36. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.07 and a fifty-two week high of $119.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.50. The company has a market capitalization of $134.36 billion, a PE ratio of 291.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. Sell-side analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.93%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is 854.05%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total value of $228,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,863,898.55. This represents a 1.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold 302,785 shares of company stock worth $30,503,250 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.