Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD Shares Acquired by Welch Group LLC

Welch Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 29.1% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,883 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 876 shares during the quarter. Welch Group LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $431,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. One Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 34.8% during the second quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,163 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,016,000 after purchasing an additional 2,364 shares in the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 430,424 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $48,229,000 after acquiring an additional 30,630 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 863 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $97,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Covea Finance lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 69.5% during the 2nd quarter. Covea Finance now owns 51,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,732,000 after acquiring an additional 21,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,118,632 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $237,393,000 after acquiring an additional 16,663 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock opened at $117.18 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $145.40 billion, a PE ratio of 23.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.34. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $110.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.32. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.17 and a 1 year high of $121.83.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.05. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 50.99% and a net margin of 21.86%.The firm had revenue of $7.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.01 earnings per share. Gilead Sciences’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.950-8.250 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is 62.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on GILD. Dbs Bank raised shares of Gilead Sciences to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $129.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $118.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.57, for a total transaction of $340,710.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 113,193 shares in the company, valued at $12,855,329.01. This represents a 2.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel Patrick O’day sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.66, for a total transaction of $1,116,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 591,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $66,013,726.98. This trade represents a 1.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 77,000 shares of company stock valued at $8,853,430. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

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.