Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) is Verity & Verity LLC’s 2nd Largest Position

Verity & Verity LLC raised its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 378,102 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 10,771 shares during the quarter. Gilead Sciences comprises about 3.2% of Verity & Verity LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $34,925,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,171,691 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,044,795,000 after buying an additional 841,776 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in 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 valued at $2,900,921,000 after acquiring an additional 11,665,593 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 14,680,161 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,540,870 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,302,119,000 after purchasing an additional 574,421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 0.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,414,268 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $851,743,000 after purchasing an additional 93,068 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock opened at $91.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.07 and a 1-year high of $98.90. The business has a 50-day moving average of $91.85 and a 200-day moving average of $83.81. The company has a market capitalization of $114.46 billion, a PE ratio of 1,020.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.18.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.44. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. The company had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.29 EPS. Gilead Sciences’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3,422.22%.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total transaction of $228,375.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at $11,863,898.55. This trade represents a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total transaction of $620,355.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $815,198.80. This represents a 43.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 456,234 shares of company stock valued at $42,130,461. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GILD. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Gilead Sciences from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $109.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $83.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.96.

Gilead Sciences Company 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.