Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Shares Purchased by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 7.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 999,329 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 70,214 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $92,273,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,659,007 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,293,822,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058,331 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,289,917 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,608,337,000 after purchasing an additional 749,047 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at $1,789,254,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,002,779 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $739,217,000 after purchasing an additional 249,804 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 7,047,846 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $651,010,000 after buying an additional 50,434 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 142,180 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.22, for a total transaction of $13,822,739.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,626,253.06. This trade represents a 52.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 302,785 shares of company stock worth $30,503,250. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on GILD shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” 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 target on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $105.12.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $107.25 on Friday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.07 and a 12-month high of $119.96. 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 company has a market cap of $133.54 billion, a PE ratio of 289.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.32. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $107.30 and a 200-day simple moving average of $95.89.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.