Royce & Associates LP Sells 6,500 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Royce & Associates LP reduced its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 13.3% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 42,500 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 6,500 shares during the period. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $4,718,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,150,268,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 397.6% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,748,403 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $748,147,000 after acquiring an additional 5,392,191 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 33.5% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,521,228 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,499,098,000 after acquiring an additional 3,394,330 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 164.4% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,489,062 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $387,286,000 after acquiring an additional 2,169,266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 1.6% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,364,226 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,233,912,000 after purchasing an additional 1,893,401 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.44, for a total transaction of $4,324,320.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 120,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,577,278.72. The trade was a 18.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel Patrick O’day sold 115,640 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.00, for a total value of $15,611,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 566,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,504,230. This represents a 16.95% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 309,280 shares of company stock worth $43,935,470 in the last quarter. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GILD opened at $148.22 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.55. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $93.37 and a fifty-two week high of $157.29. The firm has a market cap of $184.00 billion, a PE ratio of 21.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 0.37. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $137.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $125.43.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $7.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.68 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 28.90% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.90 EPS. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.450-8.850 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 46.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GILD has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered Gilead Sciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Daiwa Securities Group boosted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $129.00 to $161.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, HSBC upped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $133.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Twenty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $156.72.

About Gilead Sciences

Gilead Sciences, Inc, founded in 1987 and headquartered in Foster City, California, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of medicines in areas of high unmet medical need. The company initially built its reputation in antiviral therapies and has since expanded into oncology, cell therapy and inflammatory diseases. Gilead operates a global research and commercial organization, conducting clinical development and selling medicines in markets around the world.

Gilead’s product portfolio is anchored by antiviral therapies for HIV and viral hepatitis.