MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH Acquires 264,282 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 42.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 884,985 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 264,282 shares during the quarter. Gilead Sciences comprises about 2.7% of MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH owned about 0.07% of Gilead Sciences worth $71,693,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 9.2% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 57,967 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,446,000 after buying an additional 4,877 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 448,409 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,660,000 after buying an additional 16,643 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 44.3% in the first quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 8,642 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $514,000 after purchasing an additional 2,654 shares during the period. Donaldson Capital Management LLC raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 12.5% in the first quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 5,763 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 641 shares during the period. Finally, Ergoteles LLC purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences in the first quarter valued at about $2,304,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Truist Financial lowered Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $91.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.36.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

GILD stock traded up $0.24 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $73.25. The company had a trading volume of 8,369,703 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,477,960. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $74.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.26. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $71.37 and a fifty-two week high of $87.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.20 billion, a PE ratio of 16.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.18.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued 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 net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 38.85%. The company had revenue of $7.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.67 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.20%. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is 68.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.18, for a total transaction of $146,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 100,936 shares in the company, valued at $7,386,496.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.78, for a total value of $428,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 101,534 shares in the company, valued at $8,709,586.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.18, for a total transaction of $146,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 100,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,386,496.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,242 shares of company stock worth $1,277,726 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Profile

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.