Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 457,576 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 10.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,992,415 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 457,576 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.40% of Gilead Sciences worth $404,435,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Tompkins Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 223.1% in the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 349 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GILD traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $65.94. 7,838,371 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,481,456. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 184.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.19. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.98. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $64.63 and a 52 week high of $87.86.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.32) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.49) by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $6.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.36 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 24.34% and a net margin of 1.76%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.37 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 855.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total value of $145,920.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,026,339.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GILD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Friday, April 19th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. HSBC raised Gilead Sciences from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $69.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $74.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Friday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.60.

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.