L & S Advisors Inc Buys New Shares in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

L & S Advisors Inc bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 41,466 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,090,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position 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 worth $14,863,487,000 after purchasing an additional 2,113,692 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 12.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,139,681 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,680,505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,618,453 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 4.2% in the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,210,599 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,133,376,000 after purchasing an additional 414,454 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 5.9% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,148,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $793,506,000 after purchasing an additional 400,002 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 16.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,138,699 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $630,056,000 after purchasing an additional 726,101 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Daniel Patrick O’day sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.16, for a total transaction of $1,291,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 632,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,702,353.72. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.96, for a total transaction of $422,880.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 128,779 shares in the company, valued at $18,152,687.84. This trade represents a 2.28% 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 63,000 shares of company stock valued at $9,238,250 over the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ GILD opened at $129.58 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $160.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.65 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a 50 day moving average of $137.76 and a 200-day moving average of $133.22. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1-year low of $100.23 and a 1-year high of $157.29.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.12. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 30.99% and a return on equity of 48.19%. The business had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.81 earnings per share. Gilead Sciences’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2026 guidance at -1.050–0.650 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post -0.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is 44.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on GILD shares. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $157.00 price target (up from $155.00) on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Argus increased their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $135.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Monday, February 23rd. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $128.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price target for the company. Twenty-four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $157.04.

Gilead Sciences Profile

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.