New England Research & Management Inc. Buys New Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

New England Research & Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 11,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,436,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Corundum Trust Company INC purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. MTM Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 176.0% in the third quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC now owns 276 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Kilter Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 2.8%

NASDAQ GILD opened at $137.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $170.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.27, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.37. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $142.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $127.88. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $93.37 and a 12 month high of $157.29.

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

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.4%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.45%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on GILD shares. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Leerink Partners increased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $128.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Twenty-four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $157.62.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.50, for a total transaction of $617,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,920 shares in the company, valued at $1,101,620. This represents a 35.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.23, for a total value of $432,690.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 131,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,006,485.17. This represents a 2.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 309,280 shares of company stock worth $44,068,850 in the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.