Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Sells 7,100 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lowered its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 158,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 7,100 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $14,594,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bellevue Group AG lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 18.2% in the third quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 46,027 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,859,000 after acquiring an additional 7,093 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 149.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 81,620 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,843,000 after purchasing an additional 48,910 shares in the last quarter. McAdam LLC lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 16.7% in the 4th quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 25,372 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,344,000 after purchasing an additional 3,627 shares during the period. IRON Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 3rd quarter worth about $830,000. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 387,492 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $35,793,000 after purchasing an additional 9,791 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $96.14 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $93.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.99. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.07 and a 52-week high of $100.51. The company has a market cap of $119.82 billion, a PE ratio of 1,068.22, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.35 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total transaction of $620,355.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $815,198.80. The trade was a 43.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total value of $228,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,863,898.55. This trade represents a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 572,824 shares of company stock valued at $53,611,715 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on GILD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $84.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Gilead Sciences in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.39.

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.