Baird Financial Group Inc. Grows Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 292,295 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 10,206 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $36,929,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Aviva PLC increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 1,156,738 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $141,978,000 after purchasing an additional 59,782 shares during the last quarter. Life Cycle Investment Partners Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at $1,418,000. Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences in the second quarter valued at about $100,056,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $55,754,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 106,526 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $13,075,000 after buying an additional 13,385 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $157.00 to $156.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. HSBC boosted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings cut Gilead Sciences from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group decreased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $161.00 to $150.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $158.78.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.64, for a total transaction of $3,853,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 118,234 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,273,727.76. This represents a 19.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew Dickinson sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.36, for a total transaction of $415,080.00. Following the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 105,000 shares of company stock worth $14,495,820 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of GILD opened at $144.81 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $138.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.27. The company has a market capitalization of $179.56 billion, a PE ratio of -54.24 and a beta of 0.33. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $108.46 and a fifty-two week high of $157.29.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($6.75) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($7.25) by $0.50. The business had revenue of $7.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.40 billion. Gilead Sciences had a negative return on equity of 2.11% and a negative net margin of 10.64%.The business's revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.01 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post -0.48 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

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

Gilead Sciences Profile

Gilead Sciences, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and commercializes medicines for serious and life-threatening diseases. The company's research focuses primarily on virology, oncology, inflammation and related areas, with products serving patients in the United States and international markets.

Gilead is best known for its HIV treatments, including Biktarvy, Genvoya, Descovy and other antiretroviral therapies. Its portfolio also includes medicines for viral hepatitis, such as Epclusa and Vemlidy, and Veklury (remdesivir), an antiviral treatment for COVID-19.

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