Blue Trust Inc. Increases Stock Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 38.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,520 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 1,808 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $547,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 114,732,575 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,404,161,000 after acquiring an additional 2,910,147 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $134,489,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 61,246,366 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,486,296,000 after buying an additional 1,589,240 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 24.7% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,889,663 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $541,310,000 after buying an additional 1,564,792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the second quarter worth $102,298,000. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total transaction of $2,459,529.46. Following the sale, the insider now owns 78,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,545,480.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total value of $167,660.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 100,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,398,843.87. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total transaction of $2,459,529.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 78,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,545,480.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,847 shares of company stock worth $3,033,340 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on GILD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Barclays lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.85.

Gilead Sciences Stock Down 0.5 %

GILD opened at $86.29 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $81.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $107.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 239.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.18. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.07 and a 12 month high of $87.86.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.40. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.34% and a net margin of 3.79%. The company had revenue of $6.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.64 billion. As a group, research analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 855.56%.

Gilead Sciences Company 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.