AJOVista LLC Buys New Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

AJOVista LLC purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 2,728 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,909,619 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,267,207,000 after purchasing an additional 158,794 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,922,488 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,118,291,000 after purchasing an additional 504,475 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,046,652 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $408,829,000 after purchasing an additional 493,920 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,992,415 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $404,435,000 after purchasing an additional 457,576 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,773,688 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $357,740,000 after purchasing an additional 531,314 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GILD traded down $0.55 during trading on Friday, reaching $64.78. The company had a trading volume of 7,822,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,345,331. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $64.33 and a 52 week high of $87.86. The stock has a market cap of $80.66 billion, a PE ratio of 179.94, a PEG ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.98. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $70.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.83.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.32) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.49) by $0.17. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 24.34%. The company had revenue of $6.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.36 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 855.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GILD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $74.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $101.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total transaction of $145,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,026,339.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.