Royal Bank of Canada Grows Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) by 30.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,678,751 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,005,863 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.70% of Gilead Sciences worth $801,655,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GILD. Accurate Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,456 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 28,753 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,656,000 after acquiring an additional 6,878 shares during the period. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 14.2% during the fourth quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 1,606 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $148,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. BluePath Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 9,854 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $886,000 after acquiring an additional 1,299 shares during the period. Finally, USA Financial Formulas acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth $1,539,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 17,929 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.17, for a total transaction of $2,118,669.93. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 169,061 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,977,938.37. This represents a 9.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,429 shares of company stock worth $2,894,445. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GILD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Gilead Sciences in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $110.55.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of GILD traded up $3.66 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $106.16. 8,559,921 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,680,960. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.06 billion, a PE ratio of 286.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.26. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.07 and a fifty-two week high of $119.96. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.84.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $6.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($1.32) earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors 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 yield of 2.98%. Gilead Sciences's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.53%.

Gilead Sciences 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.