Proficio Capital Partners LLC Acquires Shares of 339,489 Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 339,489 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $339,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bellevue Group AG lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 46,027 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,859,000 after buying an additional 7,093 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 149.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 81,620 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,843,000 after purchasing an additional 48,910 shares during the period. McAdam LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 25,372 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,344,000 after purchasing an additional 3,627 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 387,492 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $35,793,000 after buying an additional 9,791 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 142,167 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,132,000 after buying an additional 5,382 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Gilead Sciences in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.52.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

GILD opened at $114.43 on Wednesday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $100.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $92.18. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.07 and a fifty-two week high of $119.96. The firm has a market cap of $142.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 309.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 31.63%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 854.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total transaction of $228,375.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,863,898.55. This trade represents a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 293,356 shares of company stock worth $29,166,240 over the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.