M&T Bank Corp Boosts Stock Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 201,175 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,223 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $18,583,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Carrera Capital Advisors grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 30.7% in the 4th quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors now owns 33,400 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,085,000 after acquiring an additional 7,854 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 19.1% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,051,567 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $281,873,000 after acquiring an additional 489,955 shares in the last quarter. Mainstream Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,000. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 10,463 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $963,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.09, for a total value of $260,225.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 169,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,597,559.49. This trade represents a 1.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 293,356 shares of company stock valued at $29,166,240 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $83.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Maxim Group lowered Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.24.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of GILD opened at $115.44 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $98.71 and its 200-day moving average is $90.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $143.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 312.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.07 and a 12-month high of $117.39.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 31.63%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.79 dividend. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.74%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.