AGF Management Ltd. Sells 9,462 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

AGF Management Ltd. cut its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 20.4% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 37,025 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 9,462 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $2,540,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GILD. Norges Bank bought a new position in Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter worth about $1,301,624,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 78.8% during the fourth quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,632,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $618,268,000 after buying an additional 3,362,505 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 114,732,575 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,404,161,000 after buying an additional 2,910,147 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,630,134 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,509,227,000 after buying an additional 2,350,550 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the first quarter worth $134,489,000. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Monday, September 9th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $82.06.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

NASDAQ GILD opened at $82.81 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $75.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.87. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.07 and a 1 year high of $87.86. The company has a market cap of $103.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 230.03, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.18.

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

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is presently 855.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total transaction of $2,459,529.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 78,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,545,480.06. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.63, for a total value of $137,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,614,559.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 36,847 shares of company stock worth $3,002,940. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.