Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Shares Sold by Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. cut its position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 50.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,427 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 24,623 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $1,676,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GILD. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 78.8% in the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,632,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $618,268,000 after buying an additional 3,362,505 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 valued at $8,404,161,000 after buying an additional 2,910,147 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,630,134 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,509,227,000 after buying an additional 2,350,550 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the first quarter valued at $134,489,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 59,657,126 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,832,824,000 after buying an additional 1,743,418 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GILD has been the subject of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Monday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.06.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of GILD stock opened at $83.90 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $104.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 233.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.18. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $76.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.18. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.07 and a 12-month high of $87.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

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

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 855.56%.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.63, for a total value of $137,260.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 96,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,614,559.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.63, for a total value of $137,260.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 96,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,614,559.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the company’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 value of $2,459,529.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 78,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,545,480.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 36,847 shares of company stock valued at $3,002,940. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.