Man Group plc Boosts Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Man Group plc increased its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 38.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 873,179 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 243,567 shares during the quarter. Man Group plc’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $80,656,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Matrix Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 515.2% in the 4th quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 1,052 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 881 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 41.2% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 13,481 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,212,000 after buying an additional 3,931 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 8,150 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $753,000 after buying an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. First Financial Corp IN purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth $68,000. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth $471,000. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 17,929 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.17, for a total transaction of $2,118,669.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 169,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,977,938.37. The trade was a 9.59% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 22,929 shares of company stock valued at $2,644,895. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GILD opened at $101.43 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $126.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 274.14, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $106.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.51. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.04. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. The company had revenue of $6.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.32) EPS. Gilead Sciences’s revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.12%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $132.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 25th. DZ Bank raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.55.

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.