Xponance Inc. Boosts Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Xponance Inc. grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 186,443 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,667 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $15,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Tompkins Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 223.1% in the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 349 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD traded up $0.43 on Friday, reaching $66.59. 734,846 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,220,846. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $65.90 and a fifty-two week high of $87.86. The company’s 50 day moving average is $72.10 and its 200-day moving average is $76.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.91 billion, a PE ratio of 14.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.04). Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 38.85%. The business had revenue of $7.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.67 EPS. Gilead Sciences’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.63%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is 68.44%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GILD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.71.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total value of $145,920.00. Following the transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.