Berkshire Bank Grows Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Berkshire Bank raised its position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,398 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the quarter. Berkshire Bank’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $314,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 63,082 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,827,000 after purchasing an additional 13,417 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 97.2% during the fourth quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 629 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $58,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 723.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,434,665 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $594,370,000 after acquiring an additional 5,653,075 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter worth $200,000. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at $1,546,000. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total transaction of $2,341,485.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 99,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,113,308.50. This trade represents a 20.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total value of $228,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,863,898.55. The trade was a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 456,234 shares of company stock worth $42,130,461 in the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GILD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $74.00 to $96.00 in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.96.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Gilead Sciences stock opened at $95.35 on Tuesday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.07 and a 1-year high of $98.90. The company’s 50-day moving average is $91.74 and its 200 day moving average is $85.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,059.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.44. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. The company had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. Gilead Sciences’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3,422.22%.

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.