Griffith & Werner Inc. Invests $1.33 Million in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Griffith & Werner Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 14,436 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $1,333,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 40,319,432 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,724,306,000 after buying an additional 7,157,113 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,659,007 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,293,822,000 after buying an additional 1,058,331 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,289,917 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,608,337,000 after acquiring an additional 749,047 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,789,254,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,915,095 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,377,707,000 after acquiring an additional 2,458,954 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on GILD shares. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $125.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped 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, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $108.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Nine investment 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 MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $110.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.52, for a total transaction of $3,010,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 121,152 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,026,263.04. The trade was a 18.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.40, for a total value of $266,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 168,174 shares in the company, valued at $17,893,713.60. This represents a 1.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 50,929 shares of company stock valued at $5,644,780 in the last quarter. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

GILD traded up $1.72 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $109.09. 7,928,580 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,726,852. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $135.70 billion, a PE ratio of 294.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.26. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $105.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $100.46. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.07 and a 1 year high of $119.96.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $6.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.32) earnings per share. The business's revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.90%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Gilead Sciences's payout ratio is currently 66.53%.

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.