Weiss Asset Management LP Invests $4.41 Million in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD – Get Rating) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 71,550 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,414,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.2% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 128,460,733 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,924,739,000 after acquiring an additional 1,523,122 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Gilead Sciences by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 112,087,271 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,914,663,000 after purchasing an additional 1,691,194 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 59,240,350 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,654,537,000 after purchasing an additional 1,293,414 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 324.8% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 18,002,214 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,070,232,000 after purchasing an additional 13,764,169 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in 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 buying an additional 6,410,047 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 78.72% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of GILD stock opened at $77.31 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $83.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $78.51. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $57.17 and a 52-week high of $89.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $96.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.18, a P/E/G ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.38.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 2nd. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $7.39 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.63 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 44.46% and a net margin of 16.83%. The business’s revenue was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.69 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 6.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be given a $0.75 dividend. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.88%. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.73. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 82.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. SVB Leerink boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 3rd. Bank of America restated a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Tuesday, December 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $69.00 to $80.00 in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 6,126 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.99, for a total transaction of $483,892.74. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 70,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,539,568.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Company Profile

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Gilead Sciences, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company, which engages in the research, development, and commercialization of medicines in areas of unmet medical need. The firm’s primary areas of focus include human immunodeficiency virus, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, liver diseases, hematology, oncology, and inflammation and respiratory diseases.