Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Lowers Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. reduced its stake in Gilead Sciences by 4.4% in Q1, holding 82,590 shares valued at approximately $9.25 million at the reporting period's end.
• Insider selling activity included CEO Daniel O'Day, who sold 10,000 shares for about $1.14 million, indicating a 1.62% decrease in his ownership.
• Analysts have recently upgraded Gilead's stock rating, moving from "hold" to "buy," with target prices ranging from $115 to $133, indicating a shift in market sentiment.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. decreased its position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) by 4.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 82,590 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 3,769 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $9,254,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GILD. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Colonial Trust Advisors increased its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Core Alternative Capital increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 370.8% during the 1st quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 306 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Finally, IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.53, for a total value of $296,325.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 160,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,977,838.30. This represents a 1.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel Patrick O'day sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.63, for a total value of $1,136,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 595,725 shares of the company's stock, valued at $67,692,231.75. This represents a 1.65% 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Daiwa America raised Gilead Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Truist Financial raised Gilead Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $108.00 to $127.00 in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC raised Gilead Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $133.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, 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 report on Tuesday, August 19th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $115.39.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 0.4%

Gilead Sciences stock traded up $0.41 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $112.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,629,720 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,308,101. The company has a 50 day moving average of $113.14 and a 200-day moving average of $109.72. The stock has a market cap of $140.17 billion, a PE ratio of 22.50, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.32. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a one year low of $77.74 and a one year high of $121.83.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $7.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.95 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 50.99% and a net margin of 21.86%.Gilead Sciences's quarterly revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.01 EPS. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.950-8.250 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

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 $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Gilead Sciences's dividend payout ratio is 62.95%.

Gilead Sciences 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.