Western Financial Corp CA Invests $1.11 Million in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Western Financial Corp CA purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 9,902 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $1,110,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GILD. FMR LLC lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 21.6% during the fourth 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. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,659,007 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,293,822,000 after buying an additional 1,058,331 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,289,917 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,608,337,000 after buying an additional 749,047 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,789,254,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 19.7% during 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 period. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price 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. Oppenheimer decreased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $132.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $110.55.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 2.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD traded up $3.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $110.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 19,541,254 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,689,778. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.67 billion, a PE ratio of 23.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.29. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $66.01 and a 12 month high of $119.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.37, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $106.39 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $103.27.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 51.93% and a net margin of 20.76%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($1.32) EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.86%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Gilead Sciences's dividend payout ratio is currently 66.53%.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.82, for a total value of $249,550.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 165,674 shares in the company, valued at $16,537,578.68. This trade represents a 1.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 3,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.17, for a total transaction of $330,510.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 120,168 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,238,908.56. This represents a 2.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 48,500 shares of company stock worth $5,236,245. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.