Ameritas Advisory Services LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Key Points

• Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its Gilead Sciences stake by 681.6% in the fourth quarter, ending with 14,725 shares valued at about $1.8 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains constructive, with analysts assigning a Moderate Buy consensus rating and an average price target of $157.04 after several firms raised their targets.
• Gilead reported better-than-expected Q1 results, posting EPS of $2.03 on revenue of $6.96 billion, and it also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share.

Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) by 681.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,725 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 12,841 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $1,807,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 121,097,336 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $14,863,487,000 after acquiring an additional 2,113,692 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,139,681 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,680,505,000 after buying an additional 1,618,453 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,210,599 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,133,376,000 after buying an additional 414,454 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,148,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $793,506,000 after buying an additional 400,002 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,138,699 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $630,056,000 after buying an additional 726,101 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on GILD shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $123.00 to $122.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $157.04.

Gilead Sciences Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $132.06 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $163.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.99 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12-month low of $97.86 and a 12-month high of $157.29. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $138.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $133.25.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $6.96 billion for 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period 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, equities analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post -0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 3,000 shares of the 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 insider directly owned 128,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,152,687.84. This trade represents a 2.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Daniel Patrick O'day sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.16, for a total value of $1,291,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 632,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,702,353.72. The trade was a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 63,000 shares of company stock worth $9,238,250. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company's stock.

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.

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