Legacy Trust Takes Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Legacy Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,923 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GILD. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,789,254,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 40,319,432 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,724,306,000 after purchasing an additional 7,157,113 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 13,891.1% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,550,298 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $285,761,000 after purchasing an additional 2,532,070 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,915,095 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,377,707,000 after purchasing an additional 2,458,954 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth approximately $207,340,000. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.82, for a total value of $249,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,537,578.68. This trade represents a 1.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.52, for a total value of $3,010,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 121,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,026,263.04. This trade represents a 18.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 43,000 shares of company stock valued at $4,630,310 over the last quarter. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on GILD shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.55.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock opened at $112.05 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $105.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.06. The company has a market capitalization of $139.38 billion, a PE ratio of 302.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.69 and a 52 week high of $119.96.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.04. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. The business had revenue of $6.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.32) EPS. The business’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is currently 66.53%.

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.