Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB Acquires 13,729 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 278.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,660 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,729 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $1,564,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GILD. Bellevue Group AG increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 18.2% during the third quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 46,027 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,859,000 after buying an additional 7,093 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 149.5% during the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 81,620 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,843,000 after purchasing an additional 48,910 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,414,268 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $851,743,000 after purchasing an additional 93,068 shares during the period. IRON Financial LLC purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences in the third quarter valued at approximately $830,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 12.9% during the third quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 323,011 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,081,000 after purchasing an additional 36,895 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total value of $15,094,275.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 80,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,427,227.92. The trade was a 67.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 248,645 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.76, for a total value of $23,064,310.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 138,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,886,126.44. This represents a 64.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 447,234 shares of company stock valued at $41,288,086 in the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on GILD shares. Maxim Group cut Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $96.00 in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.43.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of GILD opened at $91.86 on Friday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.07 and a 1-year high of $98.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,020.61, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.18. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $89.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $79.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.44. The firm had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.35 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3,422.22%.

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.