Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Purchases 1,035 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 97,307 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,035 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $7,883,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GILD. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Tompkins Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 223.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total value of $145,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,026,339.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on GILD. StockNews.com upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 27th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Friday, April 19th. Maxim Group reduced their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.69.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 1.2 %

GILD stock traded up $0.76 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $65.54. 7,186,870 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,456,667. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.60 billion, a PE ratio of 182.06, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.22. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a one year low of $64.33 and a one year high of $87.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.98. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $70.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.68.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.49) by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $6.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.36 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 24.34%. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 3.74 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 855.56%.

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.