Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD Shares Bought by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 4.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,210,599 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 414,454 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $1,133,376,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Corundum Trust Company INC purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. MTM Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 176.0% in the 3rd quarter. MTM Investment Management LLC now owns 276 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Kilter Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 58.7% during the third quarter. Millstone Evans Group LLC now owns 319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 118 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GILD. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $150.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group lifted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $129.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Twenty-three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $156.72.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Gilead Sciences stock opened at $146.63 on Tuesday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12-month low of $93.37 and a 12-month high of $157.29. The company has a market capitalization of $182.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $138.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $126.06.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.03. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 28.90%.The company had revenue of $7.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.450-8.850 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.68%.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In related news, CEO Daniel Patrick O’day sold 10,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.79, for a total value of $1,447,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 642,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $92,999,775.32. The trade was a 1.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.43, for a total transaction of $463,290.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 167,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,910,110.97. The trade was a 1.76% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 309,280 shares of company stock worth $43,935,470 over the last three months. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Gilead Sciences

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.