Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Shares Purchased by Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 750.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 17,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,000 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $1,425,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. RFG Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 16.9% in the first quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 22,514 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,649,000 after purchasing an additional 3,249 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 3.5% during the first quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 4,342 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $318,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. &PARTNERS purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 1st quarter worth about $309,000. Royal Fund Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 51.5% during the 1st quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC now owns 22,440 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,644,000 after purchasing an additional 7,624 shares during the period. Finally, High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 6.1% during the 1st quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,519 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 5,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.98, for a total transaction of $406,150.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 114,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,506,146.42. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 5,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.98, for a total value of $406,150.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 114,979 shares in the company, valued at $8,506,146.42. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total value of $167,660.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 100,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,398,843.87. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 36,847 shares of company stock worth $3,033,340. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Gilead Sciences from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $78.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Barclays increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.37.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

GILD stock traded down $0.64 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $86.72. The company had a trading volume of 4,365,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,080,318. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a one year low of $62.07 and a one year high of $87.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 240.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $81.06 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $72.80.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.40. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 3.79% and a return on equity of 29.34%. The firm had revenue of $6.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.64 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is currently 855.56%.

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.