Man Group plc Purchases New Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Man Group plc purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,235,196 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,055,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the second quarter valued at about $15,393,785,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,240,518 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,393,921,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151,213 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,698,660 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,399,734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,269 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 23,121,620 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,837,948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,046,688 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,617,152,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on GILD shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 27th. Maxim Group upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $165.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Leerink Partners downgraded Gilead Sciences from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $146.00 to $127.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Daiwa Securities Group dropped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $161.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn cut their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $170.00 to $167.00 in a report on Monday, May 11th. Twenty-four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.04.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of GILD opened at $148.77 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $132.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $136.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $184.47 billion, a PE ratio of -55.72 and a beta of 0.32. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a one year low of $108.46 and a one year high of $157.29.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($6.75) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($7.25) by $0.50. Gilead Sciences had a negative return on equity of 2.11% and a negative net margin of 10.64%.The firm had revenue of $7.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.01 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post -0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently -122.85%.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other news, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.02, for a total transaction of $725,100.00. Following the sale, the director owned 10,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,459,771.32. The trade was a 33.19% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.64, for a total transaction of $3,853,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 118,234 shares in the company, valued at $16,273,727.76. This represents a 19.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 87,000 shares of company stock valued at $11,562,960 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Company Profile

Gilead Sciences, Inc, founded in 1987 and headquartered in Foster City, California, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of medicines in areas of high unmet medical need. The company initially built its reputation in antiviral therapies and has since expanded into oncology, cell therapy and inflammatory diseases. Gilead operates a global research and commercial organization, conducting clinical development and selling medicines in markets around the world.

Gilead’s product portfolio is anchored by antiviral therapies for HIV and viral hepatitis.