Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 488,138 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Van ECK Associates Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 40.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 716,459 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 488,138 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned 0.06% of Gilead Sciences worth $90,517,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 2nd quarter worth $15,393,785,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,240,518 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,393,921,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151,213 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,698,660 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,399,734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,269 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 23,121,620 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,837,948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,046,688 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,617,152,000. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on GILD shares. Truist Financial decreased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $157.00 to $156.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. HSBC raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $133.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Leerink Partners lowered shares of Gilead Sciences from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $146.00 to $127.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Twenty-four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $158.04.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.36, for a total value of $415,080.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 165,646 shares in the company, valued at approximately $22,918,780.56. The trade was a 1.78% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.64, for a total transaction of $3,853,920.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 118,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,273,727.76. This represents a 19.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 105,000 shares of company stock valued at $14,238,120. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences News Summary

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 Stock Performance

Shares of GILD stock opened at $145.68 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $108.46 and a 52 week high of $157.29. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $134.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $136.62. The company has a market capitalization of $180.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -54.56 and a beta of 0.32.

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

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -122.85%.

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.