Motiv8 Investments LLC Invests $1.12 Million in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Motiv8 Investments LLC acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 12,157 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,123,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bellevue Group AG grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 18.2% in the third quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 46,027 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,859,000 after purchasing an additional 7,093 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 149.5% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. McAdam LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 25,372 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,344,000 after buying an additional 3,627 shares in the last quarter. IRON Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the 3rd quarter valued at about $830,000. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 2.6% in 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 in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on GILD shares. DZ Bank raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Gilead Sciences in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.08.

Insider Activity

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $104.09, for a total transaction of $260,225.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 169,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,597,559.49. This trade represents a 1.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold 542,001 shares of company stock worth $52,230,551 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GILD opened at $110.46 on Thursday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.07 and a twelve month high of $112.11. The firm has a market cap of $137.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 298.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a 50-day moving average of $96.56 and a 200-day moving average of $89.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

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

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio 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.