Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Lowers Stock Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP cut its Gilead Sciences stake by 12.7% in the first quarter, selling more than 1.1 million shares and leaving it with 7.7 million shares worth about $1.08 billion.
• Wall Street sentiment remains constructive: Gilead has a Moderate Buy consensus rating, with 26 Buy ratings and an average price target of $159.04.
• The company recently beat earnings expectations, reporting $2.03 EPS on revenue of $6.96 billion, and it also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share for a 2.4% yield.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) by 12.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,722,929 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 1,123,384 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.62% of Gilead Sciences worth $1,076,079,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Paulson Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,887 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $477,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 7,724 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $948,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Davidson Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. Davidson Trust Co. now owns 1,879 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $262,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC now owns 6,619 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $812,000 after buying an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 4,572 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $561,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Leerink Partners dropped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $148.00 to $146.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $168.00 to $166.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Weiss Ratings lowered Gilead Sciences from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Rothschild & Co Redburn decreased their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $170.00 to $167.00 in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Maxim Group raised Gilead Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $165.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Twenty-six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $159.04.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Gilead Sciences stock opened at $134.28 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.30. The stock has a market cap of $166.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.29 and a beta of 0.32. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12-month low of $107.75 and a 12-month 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.12. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 48.19% and a net margin of 30.99%.The firm had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.91 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.81 earnings per share. Gilead Sciences's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2026 guidance at -1.050--0.650 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post -0.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Gilead Sciences's dividend payout ratio is currently 44.69%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Daniel Patrick O'day sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.29, for a total transaction of $1,894,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 607,133 shares in the company, valued at $76,674,826.57. The trade was a 2.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.29, for a total value of $3,676,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 125,779 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,513,524.91. This trade represents a 18.21% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 77,000 shares of company stock worth $9,978,740. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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