Ameriflex Group Inc. Takes Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,721 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $264,000.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at $1,789,254,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 40,319,432 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,724,306,000 after purchasing an additional 7,157,113 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 723.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,434,665 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $594,370,000 after buying an additional 5,653,075 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,915,095 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,377,707,000 after acquiring an additional 2,458,954 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter worth about $207,340,000. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.52, for a total value of $3,010,560.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 121,152 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,026,263.04. This trade represents a 18.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $106.40, for a total transaction of $266,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 168,174 shares of the company's stock, 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 worth $5,644,780 over the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GILD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Gilead Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $110.55.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of GILD traded up $2.67 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $111.11. The company had a trading volume of 5,596,339 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,714,402. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $105.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $100.57. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.07 and a 12-month high of $119.96. 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 capitalization of $138.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 300.30, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.26.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.04. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 31.63%. The business had revenue of $6.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.32) EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.84%. Gilead Sciences's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 66.53%.

Gilead Sciences Company Profile

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.