Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Reduces Stock Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. by 13.1% during the first quarter, now holding 58,363 shares valued at approximately $6.54 million.
• Insider transactions include Johanna Mercier selling 28,000 shares for over $3 million, reducing her position by 18.77%.
• Gilead Sciences reported earnings of $2.01 EPS in its latest quarterly results, surpassing analyst expectations, with a revenue of $7.08 billion.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) by 13.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 58,363 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 8,773 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $6,540,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 13,891.1% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,915,095 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,377,707,000 after purchasing an additional 2,458,954 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 422.6% during the 1st quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,523,036 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $282,706,000 after purchasing an additional 2,040,261 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 30.1% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,678,751 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $801,655,000 after purchasing an additional 2,005,863 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,470,825 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $13,162,606,000 after purchasing an additional 1,942,433 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In related news, CEO Daniel Patrick O'day sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.45, for a total value of $1,104,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 615,725 shares of the company's stock, valued at $68,006,826.25. This represents a 1.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.52, for a total value of $3,010,560.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 121,152 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,026,263.04. This represents a 18.77% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 82,000 shares of company stock worth $8,984,175 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday. Truist Financial raised Gilead Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $108.00 to $127.00 in a report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Gilead Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $125.00 target price on the stock. 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 research note on Friday, July 25th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $114.82.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock traded down $0.80 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $119.67. The stock had a trading volume of 2,345,539 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,380,430. The firm has a market cap of $148.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 0.33. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $72.67 and a 12 month high of $121.83. The business's 50-day moving average is $111.16 and its 200 day moving average is $107.83. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 21.86% and a return on equity of 50.99%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.01 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Gilead Sciences's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.95%.

Gilead Sciences Company Profile

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.