Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD Shares Purchased by Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 96.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,014 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 2,945 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Redwood Financial Network Corp increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 2,530 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $234,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Argentarii LLC increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.0% in the first quarter. Argentarii LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $380,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 1.7% in the first quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,040 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $677,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Perkins Coie Trust Co raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 2.6% in the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 3,880 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 33.3% during the first quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 400 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.53, for a total value of $3,318,840.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 114,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,532,333.04. This trade represents a 19.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel Patrick O’day sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.63, for a total transaction of $1,136,300.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 595,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $67,692,231.75. The trade was a 1.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 82,000 shares of company stock valued at $9,371,330 over the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GILD shares. 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. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $133.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. Daiwa America raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.39.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of GILD opened at $115.88 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $113.69 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $143.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.08, a P/E/G ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.32. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $78.36 and a 52 week high of $121.83.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.01 earnings per share. 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 research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

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

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.