Natural Investments LLC Takes $460,000 Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Natural Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 4,987 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $460,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GILD. Bellevue Group AG raised its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 46,027 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,859,000 after acquiring an additional 7,093 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 149.5% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 81,620 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,843,000 after purchasing an additional 48,910 shares during the period. McAdam LLC grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 25,372 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,344,000 after buying an additional 3,627 shares during the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 387,492 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $35,793,000 after purchasing an additional 9,791 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 142,167 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,132,000 after purchasing an additional 5,382 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GILD shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.52.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD opened at $114.43 on Wednesday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.07 and a fifty-two week high of $119.96. The company’s 50-day moving average is $100.56 and its 200 day moving average is $92.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.50. The company has a market capitalization of $142.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 309.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 31.63%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 854.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at $11,863,898.55. This represents a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 293,356 shares of company stock valued at $29,166,240. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Gilead Sciences 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.