Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Shares Sold by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems trimmed its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 86,733 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 7,150 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $7,272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.4% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 84,497,404 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,189,435,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133,281 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 61,246,366 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,486,296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,589,240 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in Gilead Sciences by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,414,268 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $851,743,000 after acquiring an additional 93,068 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.6% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,412,413 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $714,421,000 after purchasing an additional 268,208 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 24.7% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,889,663 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $541,310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,564,792 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on GILD. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.86.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total value of $2,341,485.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 99,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,113,308.50. This represents a 20.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 78,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,545,480.06. The trade was a 27.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,947 shares of company stock worth $4,968,674. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 4.0 %

NASDAQ:GILD opened at $88.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a market capitalization of $110.17 billion, a PE ratio of 982.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.17. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.96. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.07 and a 52-week high of $98.90.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.44. The company had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3,422.22%.

Gilead Sciences Company 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.