Bank of Nova Scotia Increases Stock Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Bank of Nova Scotia grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 6.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 773,847 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 44,233 shares during the quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia owned approximately 0.06% of Gilead Sciences worth $71,480,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GILD. Rathbones Group PLC increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 3,395 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Twin Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Twin Capital Management Inc. now owns 30,394 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,807,000 after acquiring an additional 606 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 12.9% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,277,915 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,041,741,000 after acquiring an additional 1,292,399 shares during the period. Certior Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at $330,000. Finally, Sierra Summit Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 67.6% during the 4th quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 23,075 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,131,000 after purchasing an additional 9,305 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GILD. Bank of America upped 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. 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 a consensus price target of $105.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total transaction of $228,375.00. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 302,785 shares of company stock worth $30,503,250. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock opened at $103.19 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $107.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $96.31. The company has a market capitalization of $128.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 278.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.20. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.07 and a 1 year high of $119.96.

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

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.