Headlands Technologies LLC Acquires 15,539 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Key Points

• Headlands Technologies LLC significantly increased its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. by 75.8% in Q1, bringing their total holdings to $4.04 million with 36,037 shares owned.
• Gilead Sciences' stock is currently trading at $110.28, down 1.9%, with a market cap of $137.18 billion and a consensus price target of $112.36.
• Analyst ratings are generally positive, with 15 analysts giving a buy rating and only 3 issuing a strong buy, while several target prices have been adjusted upward, including one to $135.00 by Morgan Stanley.

Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) by 75.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,037 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after buying an additional 15,539 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC's holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $4,038,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Bridgewater Associates LP increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 122.7% during the 4th quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 460,936 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $42,577,000 after acquiring an additional 253,994 shares during the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 284,243 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $26,750,000 after purchasing an additional 14,009 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 14.5% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 863 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 54.6% in the 4th quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 37,051 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,422,000 after acquiring an additional 13,086 shares during the period. Finally, Mufg Securities Americas Inc. purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,699,000. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

GILD stock traded down $0.67 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $118.74. 2,843,315 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,385,817. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $110.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $107.64. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a one year low of $72.43 and a one year high of $121.38. The company has a market cap of $147.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.33. 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 announced its 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 business had revenue of $7.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.01 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Gilead Sciences's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Daniel Patrick O'day sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.94, for a total transaction of $1,139,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 605,725 shares of the company's stock, valued at $69,016,306.50. This trade represents a 1.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.74, for a total value of $548,700.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,920 shares of the company's stock, valued at $978,880.80. This trade represents a 35.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 82,000 shares of company stock valued at $8,984,175. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on GILD. Oppenheimer decreased 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. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Gilead Sciences in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded Gilead Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $108.00 to $127.00 in a research note on Friday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $114.82.

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.