Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Acquires Shares of 3,157,393 Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 3,157,393 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $398,905,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GILD. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 121,097,336 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $14,863,487,000 after acquiring an additional 2,113,692 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,240,518 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,393,921,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151,213 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,698,660 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,399,734,000 after acquiring an additional 1,195,269 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 23,121,620 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,837,948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,046,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth about $2,617,152,000. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.92, for a total transaction of $371,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 124,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,395,077.28. The trade was a 2.36% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Daniel Patrick O’day sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.31, for a total value of $1,954,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 592,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $77,160,851.23. This trade represents a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 51,000 shares of company stock worth $6,568,860 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of GILD opened at $138.92 on Tuesday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $108.46 and a 12 month high of $157.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $130.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.43. The company has a market cap of $172.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -52.03 and a beta of 0.32.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($6.75) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($7.25) by $0.50. Gilead Sciences had a negative return on equity of 2.11% and a negative net margin of 10.64%.The company had revenue of $7.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.40 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.01 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post -0.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.4%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -122.85%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GILD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Leerink Partners lowered shares of Gilead Sciences from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $146.00 to $127.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Barclays cut their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Gilead Sciences from $157.00 to $156.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Twenty-four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.04.

About Gilead Sciences

Gilead Sciences, Inc, founded in 1987 and headquartered in Foster City, California, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of medicines in areas of high unmet medical need. The company initially built its reputation in antiviral therapies and has since expanded into oncology, cell therapy and inflammatory diseases. Gilead operates a global research and commercial organization, conducting clinical development and selling medicines in markets around the world.

Gilead’s product portfolio is anchored by antiviral therapies for HIV and viral hepatitis.