Twin Capital Management Inc. Increases Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Twin Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 23.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,725 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 6,093 shares during the period. Twin Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $2,570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 324.8% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 18,002,214 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,070,232,000 after acquiring an additional 13,764,169 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 17,196,950 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,476,358,000 after acquiring an additional 1,780,489 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 70.6% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 15,492,116 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $921,006,000 after acquiring an additional 6,410,047 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 14.8% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 15,421,436 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $951,350,000 after acquiring an additional 1,987,058 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,969,251 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $889,922,000 after acquiring an additional 430,810 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of GILD traded down $0.77 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $66.16. 2,909,804 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,258,720. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $72.25 and a 200-day moving average of $76.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.43. The stock has a market cap of $82.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.87, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.19. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $65.90 and a 52 week high of $87.86.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $7.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.10 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 38.85%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.67 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.66%. 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 currently 68.44%.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 value of $146,360.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 100,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,386,496.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on GILD shares. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $101.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.71.

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.