Swiss National Bank Grows Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 0.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,697,900 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,900 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $310,032,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 198.3% during the 2nd quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 358 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 101.9% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 51.6% in the second quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences in the second quarter worth $33,000. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GILD. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Maxim Group lowered shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $83.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.86.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD opened at $88.40 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $110.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 982.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.17. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $86.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $76.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.07 and a 12 month high of $98.90.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.44. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The company had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. Gilead Sciences’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is currently 3,422.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total value of $2,341,485.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 99,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,113,308.50. This represents a 20.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total transaction of $2,459,529.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 78,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,545,480.06. This trade represents a 27.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,947 shares of company stock valued at $4,968,674 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences 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.