Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 7,880 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,769,886 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 7,880 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $246,669,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Gilead Sciences by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,887 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in Gilead Sciences by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 7,724 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $948,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Davidson Trust Co. grew its stake in Gilead Sciences by 4.1% during the first quarter. Davidson Trust Co. now owns 1,879 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 6,619 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $812,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 4,572 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $561,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GILD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Monday, July 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $122.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $157.00 to $156.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Maxim Group upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $165.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group reduced their target price on Gilead Sciences from $161.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Twenty-six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $159.04.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of GILD stock opened at $130.04 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $161.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.72 and a beta of 0.32. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a twelve month low of $107.75 and a twelve month high of $157.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $129.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.11.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.12. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 48.19% and a net margin of 30.99%.The firm had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.91 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.81 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2026 guidance at -1.050–0.650 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post -0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.69%.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.40, for a total value of $376,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 171,646 shares in the company, valued at $21,524,408.40. This trade represents a 1.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.29, for a total transaction of $3,676,120.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 125,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,513,524.91. This represents a 18.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 77,000 shares of company stock worth $9,978,740 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.