TCW Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

TCW Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 555,133 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 2,852 shares during the period. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $44,974,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth about $1,301,624,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 179.0% during the third quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,543,985 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $340,526,000 after acquiring an additional 2,915,141 shares during the last quarter. abrdn plc boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 89.0% in the fourth quarter. abrdn plc now owns 3,764,107 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $304,930,000 after purchasing an additional 1,772,887 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $133,584,000. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,971,000. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $78.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 4th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $74.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.69.

Gilead Sciences Stock Down 2.4 %

NASDAQ GILD traded down $1.63 on Thursday, reaching $66.17. The company had a trading volume of 5,596,381 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,252,457. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.44 billion, a PE ratio of 183.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.22. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $64.33 and a 1 year high of $87.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $68.77 and a 200-day moving average of $74.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

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

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 855.56%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total transaction of $145,920.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,026,339.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.