Federated Hermes Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 4.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,787,355 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 175,925 shares during the period. Gilead Sciences makes up approximately 0.8% of Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Federated Hermes Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $306,814,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GILD. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Tompkins Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 223.1% in the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 349 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GILD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Barclays cut their target price on Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $91.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.71.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of GILD traded down $0.94 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $65.99. 2,294,029 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,251,159. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $72.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a twelve month low of $65.90 and a twelve month high of $87.86. The company has a market capitalization of $82.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.87, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.19.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.04). Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 38.85% and a net margin of 20.89%. The firm had revenue of $7.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is currently 68.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total transaction of $145,920.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 96,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,026,339.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.