Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Increases Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 5.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,491,253 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 73,824 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank owned approximately 0.12% of Gilead Sciences worth $120,806,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Tompkins Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 223.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 349 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

NASDAQ:GILD traded down $0.44 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $67.31. 4,971,312 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,347,491. The company has a market cap of $83.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $67.18 and a 1 year high of $87.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $72.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.78.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $7.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.10 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 38.85%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.67 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is currently 68.44%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on GILD. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Truist Financial downgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $91.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.36.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total value of $145,920.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 96,304 shares in the company, valued at $7,026,339.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.29% 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.