Canada Pension Plan Investment Board Has $233.66 Million Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Key Points

• The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board reduced its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 36.5% during the first quarter, leaving it with 2,085,291 shares valued at approximately $233.66 million.
• Wall Street analysts have shown increased confidence in Gilead, with multiple upgrades and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy", along with an average target price of $115.39.
• Gilead Sciences announced a quarterly dividend of $0.79 per share, scheduled for payment on September 29, which translates to a yield of 2.8%.

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board decreased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) by 36.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,085,291 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 1,197,216 shares during the quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.17% of Gilead Sciences worth $233,657,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GILD. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 314.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,703,103 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,647,484,000 after buying an additional 11,156,382 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the first quarter valued at approximately $620,415,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 13,891.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,550,298 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $285,761,000 after buying an additional 2,532,070 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 422.6% in the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,523,036 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $282,706,000 after buying an additional 2,040,261 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,678,751 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $801,655,000 after buying an additional 2,005,863 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GILD has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Daiwa America raised Gilead Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Gilead Sciences from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $128.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded Gilead Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $133.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, July 25th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $115.39.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.53, for a total transaction of $3,318,840.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 114,168 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,532,333.04. This represents a 19.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.74, for a total value of $548,700.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,920 shares in the company, valued at $978,880.80. The trade was a 35.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 82,000 shares of company stock valued at $9,371,330 over the last 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 0.4%

GILD stock traded up $0.41 during trading on Monday, hitting $112.97. The company had a trading volume of 4,629,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,308,101. The business has a 50-day moving average of $113.01 and a 200-day moving average of $109.66. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a one year low of $77.74 and a one year high of $121.83. The stock has a market cap of $140.17 billion, a PE ratio of 22.50, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $7.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.95 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 50.99% and a net margin of 21.86%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.01 EPS. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.950-8.250 EPS. Research analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Gilead Sciences's dividend payout ratio is presently 62.95%.

About Gilead Sciences

Gilead Sciences, Inc, a biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes medicines in the areas of unmet medical need in the United States, Europe, and internationally. The company provides Biktarvy, Genvoya, Descovy, Odefsey, Truvada, Complera/ Eviplera, Stribild, Sunlencs, and Atripla products for the treatment of HIV/AIDS; Veklury, an injection for intravenous use, for the treatment of COVID-19; and Epclusa, Harvoni, Vemlidy, and Viread for the treatment of viral hepatitis.