Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Lowers Stock Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lowered its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 551,867 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 19,466 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $69,723,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 71.4% in the fourth quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 204 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quattro Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Gilead Sciences

Here are the key news stories impacting Gilead Sciences this week:

• Positive Sentiment: The FDA approved Bixlenvo, a once-daily single-tablet regimen combining bictegravir and lenacapavir for virologically suppressed adults with HIV. It is the first and only single-tablet option for patients on complex regimens who cannot use currently available alternatives, potentially expanding Gilead’s HIV franchise and supporting its longer-term lenacapavir strategy. Reuters FDA approval article
• Positive Sentiment: The European Commission approved Trodelvy plus Keytruda for certain first-line metastatic triple-negative breast cancer patients, strengthening Gilead’s oncology portfolio and adding a potential growth opportunity outside its core HIV business. EU Trodelvy approval article
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts remain broadly constructive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of approximately $158. However, GILD’s strong multi-year advance may have raised expectations and limited the immediate upside from the Bixlenvo approval. Gilead valuation article
• Negative Sentiment: Director Anthony Welters sold 18,000 shares worth about $2.68 million, reducing his position by roughly 58%. The sale occurred under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, making it a limited bearish signal, but it may still weigh modestly on investor sentiment. SEC insider transaction filing

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD opened at $145.68 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $134.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $136.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -54.56 and a beta of 0.32. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $108.46 and a 52-week high of $157.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.27.

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

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently -122.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Anthony Welters sold 18,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.62, for a total transaction of $2,675,160.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 12,894 shares in the company, valued at $1,916,306.28. This trade represents a 58.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $138.36, for a total transaction of $415,080.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 165,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,918,780.56. The trade was a 1.78% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 105,000 shares of company stock valued at $14,238,120. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GILD. Leerink Partners lowered shares of Gilead Sciences from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $146.00 to $127.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. HSBC raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $133.00 to $155.00 in a report on Monday, July 6th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their price target on Gilead Sciences from $170.00 to $167.00 in a report on Monday, May 11th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $157.00 to $156.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Twenty-four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.04.

Gilead Sciences 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.