Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Stock Holdings Increased by Meridian Wealth Management LLC

Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 2.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 43,475 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,026 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $4,016,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GILD. State Street Corp increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,171,691 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,044,795,000 after buying an additional 841,776 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 50.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,600,676 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,900,921,000 after acquiring an additional 11,665,593 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 79.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,162,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,780,329,000 after acquiring an additional 14,680,161 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,540,870 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,302,119,000 after purchasing an additional 574,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 3.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,752,975 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $650,009,000 after purchasing an additional 224,960 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,863,898.55. This represents a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 293,356 shares of company stock valued at $29,166,240. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of GILD opened at $114.31 on Monday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.07 and a 52 week high of $114.77. 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 $142.46 billion, a PE ratio of 308.95, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.18. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $97.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $90.16.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS 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 paid a $0.79 dividend. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is presently 854.05%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GILD. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group raised their target price on Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $83.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.08.

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.