Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Buys 1,125 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 10,909 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,125 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $1,005,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 118.5% during the 4th 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 last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 325.0% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 340 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on GILD shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $105.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,863,898.55. This trade represents a 1.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 302,785 shares of company stock worth $30,503,250 over the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD opened at $107.25 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $107.30 and its 200 day moving average is $95.80. 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 $133.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 289.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.32. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.07 and a fifty-two week high of $119.96.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 EPS 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%. 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.79 dividend. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.