Legacy Capital Group California Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Legacy Capital Group California Inc. reduced its position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,062 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 412 shares during the quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $508,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 84,497,404 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,189,435,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133,281 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position 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 period. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 0.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 93,068 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GILD shares. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Raymond James upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $93.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.85.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $89.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a market capitalization of $110.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 247.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.18. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.07 and a twelve month high of $89.74. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $73.28.

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

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.46%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 855.56%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total transaction of $167,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 100,189 shares in the company, valued at $8,398,843.87. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total value of $167,660.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 100,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,398,843.87. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 5,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.98, for a total transaction of $406,150.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 114,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,506,146.42. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 36,847 shares of company stock valued at $3,033,340. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.