Norges Bank Invests $1.79 Billion in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 19,370,510 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,789,254,000. Norges Bank owned approximately 1.55% of Gilead Sciences at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GILD. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations bought a new position in Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at about $7,821,000. LM Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,110,000. Howe & Rusling Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 4,704 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $435,000 after buying an additional 115 shares in the last quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 35.5% during the 4th quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC now owns 205,829 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $19,012,000 after acquiring an additional 53,891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 79.2% during the 4th quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 410,659 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $37,933,000 after buying an additional 181,510 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of Gilead Sciences 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at $11,863,898.55. This trade represents a 1.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 302,785 shares of company stock worth $30,503,250. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 1.3 %

Gilead Sciences stock opened at $109.27 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $136.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 295.32, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.07 and a fifty-two week high of $119.96. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $104.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $94.46. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.89%. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 854.05%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GILD. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Eleven 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.52.

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.