Candriam S.C.A. Cuts Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Candriam S.C.A. decreased its position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 8.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,574,444 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 148,872 shares during the quarter. Gilead Sciences comprises 1.1% of Candriam S.C.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $176,417,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 117,470,825 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $13,162,606,000 after acquiring an additional 1,942,433 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,915,095 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,377,707,000 after buying an additional 2,458,954 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,234,672 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,130,117,000 after buying an additional 1,605,730 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,678,751 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $801,655,000 after buying an additional 2,005,863 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences in the first quarter valued at $620,415,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CEO Daniel Patrick O’day sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.94, for a total transaction of $1,139,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.74, for a total transaction of $548,700.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 110,000 shares of company stock valued at $12,349,790. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on GILD shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $96.00 to $98.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Oppenheimer decreased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $132.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $128.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $133.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.39.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock opened at $117.98 on Wednesday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12-month low of $74.34 and a 12-month high of $121.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The stock has a market cap of $146.39 billion, a PE ratio of 23.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.72 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a 50-day moving average of $112.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $108.71.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.05. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 21.86% and a return on equity of 50.99%. The company had revenue of $7.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.95 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.01 earnings per share. 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, research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

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

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.