Mizuho Securities USA LLC Has $10.91 Million Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Mizuho Securities USA LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 46.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 118,118 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,387 shares during the period. Mizuho Securities USA LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $10,911,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 118.5% during the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 284 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 325.0% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 340 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 1.1 %

Gilead Sciences stock opened at $107.08 on Friday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.07 and a fifty-two week high of $119.96. The stock has a market cap of $133.35 billion, a PE ratio of 289.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $103.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.50.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts predict 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 issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 854.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GILD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price 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, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 17,929 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.17, for a total value of $2,118,669.93. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 169,061 shares in the company, valued at $19,977,938.37. The trade was a 9.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 302,785 shares of company stock worth $30,503,250 over the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by 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.