Handelsbanken Fonder AB Raises Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 85.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,094,880 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 504,724 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $122,681,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter worth about $1,789,254,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 40,319,432 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,724,306,000 after buying an additional 7,157,113 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 13,891.1% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,550,298 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $285,761,000 after acquiring an additional 2,532,070 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 2,458,954 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $207,340,000. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.52, for a total transaction of $3,010,560.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 121,152 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,026,263.04. The trade was a 18.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $106.40, for a total value of $266,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 168,174 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,893,713.60. This trade represents a 1.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 43,000 shares of company stock worth $4,630,310. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GILD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. DZ Bank raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $110.55.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD opened at $113.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $140.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 305.41, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.29. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.69 and a 1-year high of $119.96. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $105.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.80.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $6.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.77 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. The company’s revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($1.32) EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.80%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend 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.