Central Bank & Trust Co. Decreases Stock Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Central Bank & Trust Co. lowered its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,852 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 125 shares during the quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $760,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GILD. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 314.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,703,103 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,647,484,000 after buying an additional 11,156,382 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the first quarter valued at about $620,415,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 13,891.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,550,298 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $285,761,000 after buying an additional 2,532,070 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 422.6% during the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,523,036 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $282,706,000 after buying an additional 2,040,261 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,470,825 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,162,606,000 after buying an additional 1,942,433 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $108.00 to $127.00 in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $128.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Dbs Bank upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $133.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.39.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.74, for a total value of $548,700.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $978,880.80. This represents a 35.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.53, for a total transaction of $3,318,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 114,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,532,333.04. This represents a 19.70% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 76,500 shares of company stock worth $8,765,395. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $112.54 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $114.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.06. The company has a market cap of $139.64 billion, a PE ratio of 22.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.36. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $81.83 and a 52-week high of $121.83. 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 (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $7.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.95 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 21.86% and a return on equity of 50.99%. The business’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.01 earnings per share. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.950-8.250 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.95%.

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.