Perpetual Ltd Raises Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Perpetual Ltd lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 117.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,498 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,422 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $3,498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Toledo NA OH now owns 17,510 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,149,000 after acquiring an additional 3,460 shares in the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 1,016 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $125,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 3,250 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Finally, American National Bank & Trust boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 3,635 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.23, for a total transaction of $432,690.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 131,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,006,485.17. This represents a 2.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.23, for a total value of $432,690.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 179,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,844,717.93. The trade was a 1.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 299,280 shares of company stock worth $42,820,550 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GILD. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Twenty-four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $157.62.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $139.71 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $145.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $129.53. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $93.37 and a 52 week high of $157.29. The stock has a market cap of $173.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.64, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 13th. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.45%.

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.