Westpac Banking Corp Acquires Shares of 78,465 Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Westpac Banking Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 78,465 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,913,000. Gilead Sciences accounts for about 0.6% of Westpac Banking Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the 2nd quarter valued at $15,393,785,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 121,097,336 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $14,863,487,000 after buying an additional 2,113,692 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,240,518 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,393,921,000 after buying an additional 1,151,213 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 4.5% in 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 buying an additional 1,195,269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 15.2% in 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 buying an additional 3,046,688 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GILD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Gilead Sciences from $157.00 to $156.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Gilead Sciences from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn reduced their price target on Gilead Sciences from $170.00 to $167.00 in a report on Monday, May 11th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Twenty-four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.04.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of GILD stock opened at $146.12 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $181.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -54.73 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1-year low of $108.46 and a 1-year high of $157.29. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $131.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.59.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $7.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.40 billion. Gilead Sciences had a negative net margin of 10.64% and a negative return on equity of 2.11%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.01 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post -0.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is currently -122.85%.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.36, for a total transaction of $415,080.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 165,646 shares in the company, valued at $22,918,780.56. This represents a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.02, for a total value of $725,100.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 10,066 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,459,771.32. This represents a 33.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 87,000 shares of company stock valued at $11,562,960 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Company 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.