Berger Financial Group Inc Makes New Investment in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Key Points

• Berger Financial Group Inc has invested approximately $6.87 million in Gilead Sciences by purchasing 61,286 shares as reported in their recent 13F filing.
• Several analysts have upgraded Gilead Sciences' stock ratings, with Truist Financial increasing their target price from $108.00 to $127.00, reflecting a positive outlook for the company.
• The company's quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $2.01, surpassing analysts’ expectations and indicating a year-over-year revenue growth of 1.4%.

Berger Financial Group Inc purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 61,286 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $6,867,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 1.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,470,825 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $13,162,606,000 after buying an additional 1,942,433 shares in 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 purchasing an additional 2,458,954 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 15.1% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,234,672 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,130,117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,605,730 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 30.1% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,678,751 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $801,655,000 after purchasing an additional 2,005,863 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 5,208,321 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $481,093,000 after buying an additional 724,493 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on GILD. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Gilead Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $133.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. Truist Financial upgraded Gilead Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $108.00 to $127.00 in a report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Gilead Sciences in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $114.82.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 5,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.74, for a total value of $548,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,920 shares of the company's stock, valued at $978,880.80. This represents a 35.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 82,000 shares of company stock valued at $8,984,175 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

GILD traded down $0.45 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $120.02. 6,084,059 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,406,134. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $72.67 and a fifty-two week high of $121.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $111.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.83. The company has a market capitalization of $148.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.91, a PEG ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.33.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $7.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.95 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 21.86% and a return on equity of 50.99%. The business's revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.01 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Gilead Sciences's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.95%.

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.