Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Reduces Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,648 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 213 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $959,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Southland Equity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 2.9% during the second quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 3,285 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $364,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Argentarii LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.0% during the first quarter. Argentarii LLC now owns 3,392 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the period. Peak Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.7% during the first quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC now owns 6,040 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $677,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Perkins Coie Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.6% during the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 3,880 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 33.3% during the first quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 400 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GILD shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $136.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Daiwa Capital Markets raised 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, August 19th. Dbs Bank upgraded Gilead Sciences to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $108.00 to $127.00 in a report on Friday, August 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.17.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In related news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.57, for a total value of $340,710.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 113,193 shares in the company, valued at $12,855,329.01. This represents a 2.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Daniel Patrick O’day sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $67,692,231.75. This represents a 1.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 82,000 shares of company stock worth $9,390,030 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

GILD opened at $112.49 on Tuesday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $81.83 and a 52-week high of $121.83. 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 company has a market cap of $139.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.36. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $114.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $109.95.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 21.86% and a return on equity of 50.99%. The firm had revenue of $7.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.95 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.01 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

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 given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 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.