National Bank of Canada FI Purchases 164,182 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 12.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,451,694 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 164,182 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $161,137,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,359 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,326,000 after purchasing an additional 2,450 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at about $215,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 16.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,182 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $464,000 after purchasing an additional 602 shares during the period. Creative Planning increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 282,087 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,275,000 after purchasing an additional 10,533 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 265,299 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $29,414,000 after purchasing an additional 21,966 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Leerink Partners lifted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Friday, February 20th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $155.00 price objective on the stock. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $140.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Twenty-four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $157.62.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 0.2%

Gilead Sciences stock opened at $145.21 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $141.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $127.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.45, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.55. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $93.37 and a 52 week high of $157.29.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.03. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 28.90%.The firm had revenue of $7.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.450-8.850 EPS. Analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.45%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gilead Sciences news, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 5,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.50, for a total transaction of $617,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 8,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,101,620. The trade was a 35.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.44, for a total transaction of $4,324,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 120,288 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,577,278.72. This represents a 18.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 303,280 shares of company stock worth $43,203,470. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

About Gilead Sciences

Gilead Sciences, Inc, founded in 1987 and headquartered in Foster City, California, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of medicines in areas of high unmet medical need. The company initially built its reputation in antiviral therapies and has since expanded into oncology, cell therapy and inflammatory diseases. Gilead operates a global research and commercial organization, conducting clinical development and selling medicines in markets around the world.

Gilead’s product portfolio is anchored by antiviral therapies for HIV and viral hepatitis.