Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Sells 205,601 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd lessened its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 54.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 171,416 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 205,601 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $14,372,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GILD. Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 12.8% in the third quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 50,172 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,206,000 after acquiring an additional 5,688 shares during the last quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 3rd quarter valued at $126,000. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.2% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 23,730 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,990,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 26.7% during the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 57,377 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,810,000 after purchasing an additional 12,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 305,083 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,578,000 after acquiring an additional 89,992 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Maxim Group downgraded Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Gilead Sciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.41.

Insider Activity

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,545,480.06. The trade was a 27.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total transaction of $167,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 100,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,398,843.87. This trade represents a 1.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,947 shares of company stock worth $4,968,674 over the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD opened at $90.49 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.13. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.07 and a fifty-two week high of $98.90. The company has a market cap of $112.77 billion, a PE ratio of 1,005.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.17.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. The firm had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.37 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3,422.22%.

Gilead Sciences 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.