Fruth Investment Management Invests $237,000 in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Fruth Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,118 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $237,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,470,825 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $13,162,606,000 after purchasing an additional 1,942,433 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 314.6% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,703,103 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,647,484,000 after purchasing an additional 11,156,382 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 12.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 13,755,481 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,541,302,000 after buying an additional 1,520,809 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,234,672 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,130,117,000 after buying an additional 1,605,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,678,751 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $801,655,000 after buying an additional 2,005,863 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.53, for a total transaction of $296,325.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 160,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,977,838.30. This represents a 1.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Daniel Patrick O’day sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.63, for a total value of $1,136,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 595,725 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $67,692,231.75. This trade represents a 1.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 82,000 shares of company stock worth $9,371,330. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Dbs Bank raised shares of Gilead Sciences to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $133.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $128.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.39.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Gilead Sciences stock opened at $117.86 on Friday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $81.57 and a 52 week high of $121.83. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $113.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $146.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.48, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.36.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.05. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 21.86% and a return on equity of 50.99%. The firm had revenue of $7.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.01 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.950-8.250 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.95%.

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.