Erste Asset Management GmbH Raises Stock Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Key Points

• Erste Asset Management GmbH increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 0.6% during the first quarter, now holding 394,093 shares valued at approximately $44 million.
• Insider activity included significant sales with Director Jeffrey Bluestone and CFO Andrew D. Dickinson selling shares for over $826,000 combined in July.
• Gilead Sciences reported earnings of $2.01 per share for the last quarter, exceeding expectations and setting FY 2025 guidance between $7.950 and $8.250 EPS.

Erste Asset Management GmbH lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) by 0.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 394,093 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,319 shares during the period. Erste Asset Management GmbH's holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $44,057,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. grew its stake in Gilead Sciences by 0.8% in the first quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 564,533 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $63,255,000 after purchasing an additional 4,649 shares during the period. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 3,663 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $410,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the period. CWS Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 1st quarter worth about $207,000. Colonial Trust Advisors increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 304.3% in the 1st quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors now owns 283 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 10.5% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Select Advisors LLC now owns 11,971 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,341,000 after acquiring an additional 1,137 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In related news, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 5,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.74, for a total transaction of $548,700.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $978,880.80. The trade was a 35.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.03, for a total value of $277,575.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 162,610 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,054,588.30. The trade was a 1.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 110,000 shares of company stock worth $12,349,790. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GILD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Gilead Sciences from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $128.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on Gilead Sciences from $132.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $115.39.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of GILD stock opened at $117.98 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $112.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $108.71. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $74.34 and a 52 week high of $121.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $146.39 billion, a PE ratio of 23.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.33.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.05. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 50.99% and a net margin of 21.86%.The firm had revenue of $7.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.01 EPS. The company's revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.950-8.250 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 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, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Gilead Sciences's payout ratio is 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.

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