Rafferty Asset Management LLC Trims Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Key Points

• Rafferty Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Gilead Sciences by 22.7% during the first quarter, now holding 328,803 shares valued at approximately $36.8 million.
• The company recently reported quarterly earnings with an Earnings Per Share (EPS) of $2.01, surpassing expectations, and set a FY 2025 EPS guidance of $7.95 - $8.25.
• Gilead announced a quarterly dividend of $0.79 per share, reflecting an annual yield of 2.8%, with a payout ratio of 62.95%.

Rafferty Asset Management LLC cut its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) by 22.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 328,803 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 96,670 shares during the quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC's holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $36,842,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Colonial Trust Advisors raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Core Alternative Capital raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 370.8% in the 1st quarter. Core Alternative Capital now owns 306 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Finally, IMA Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 0.5%

GILD stock opened at $114.15 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $141.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.74, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.33. 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 business has a fifty day simple moving average of $112.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.28. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $76.42 and a 52 week high of $121.83.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.95 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.01 EPS. The firm's quarterly 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. On average, equities research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. Gilead Sciences's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 62.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GILD shares. UBS Group upped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded Gilead Sciences from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $128.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Daiwa America upgraded Gilead Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded Gilead Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $108.00 to $127.00 in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $115.39.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.53, for a total transaction of $296,325.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 160,110 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,977,838.30. The trade was a 1.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel Patrick O'day sold 10,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.94, for a total value of $1,139,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 605,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,016,306.50. This trade represents a 1.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 82,000 shares of company stock worth $9,339,230. Insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding GILD? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.