Insider Selling: Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Insider Sells 3,000 Shares of Stock

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) insider Johanna Mercier sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.00, for a total transaction of $366,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 106,221 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,958,962. This represents a 2.75% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Johanna Mercier also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, November 17th, Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.86, for a total transaction of $3,524,080.00.
• On Wednesday, October 15th, Johanna Mercier sold 3,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.08, for a total transaction of $354,240.00.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ:GILD traded down $1.00 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $118.78. 6,211,164 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,887,689. The firm has a market cap of $147.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.42, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 0.32. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $122.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $115.87. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $88.57 and a 52-week high of $128.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.31.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $7.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.42 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 27.88% and a return on equity of 51.86%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.02 EPS. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.050-8.250 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.7%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.99%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GILD. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $150.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Monday. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.54.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the second quarter worth about $2,150,268,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 314.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,703,103 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,647,484,000 after purchasing an additional 11,156,382 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Gilead Sciences by 397.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 6,748,403 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $748,147,000 after purchasing an additional 5,392,191 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 33.5% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,521,228 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,499,098,000 after purchasing an additional 3,394,330 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 164.4% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,489,062 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $387,286,000 after purchasing an additional 2,169,266 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.