45,461 Shares in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD Purchased by North Dakota State Investment Board

Key Points

• North Dakota State Investment Board opened a new position in Gilead Sciences, buying 45,461 shares valued at about $5.58 million in the fourth quarter.
• Several other institutional investors also increased their stakes, and hedge funds and institutions now own 83.67% of Gilead’s stock.
• Gilead reported better-than-expected quarterly results with EPS of $2.03 on revenue of $6.96 billion, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share for a 2.5% yield.

North Dakota State Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 45,461 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock, valued at approximately $5,580,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GILD. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 14,359 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,326,000 after acquiring an additional 2,450 shares during the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 16.8% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 4,182 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $464,000 after purchasing an additional 602 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 12.0% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 118,695 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $13,160,000 after purchasing an additional 12,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 18.6% in the second quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,296 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 674 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.96, for a total transaction of $422,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 128,779 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,152,687.84. This trade represents a 2.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.96, for a total value of $422,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 176,191 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,835,883.36. This trade represents a 1.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 63,000 shares of company stock valued at $9,238,250 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GILD. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Gilead Sciences in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Argus upped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $135.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered Gilead Sciences from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group upped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $129.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Twenty-four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $157.04.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

GILD stock opened at $129.58 on Monday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $137.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $133.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The stock has a market cap of $160.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65 and a beta of 0.31. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $100.23 and a 52-week high of $157.29.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.91 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 48.19% and a net margin of 30.99%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.81 earnings per share. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2026 guidance at -1.050--0.650 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post -0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Gilead Sciences's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.69%.

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.

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