10,421,131 Shares in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD Purchased by Legal & General Group Plc

Legal & General Group Plc bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 10,421,131 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,316,606,000. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.84% of Gilead Sciences at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the second quarter worth about $15,393,785,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,617,152,000. Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the second quarter valued at approximately $918,387,000. Boston Partners purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $517,808,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $398,905,000. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.64, for a total value of $3,853,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 118,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,273,727.76. This represents a 19.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through 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 shares were sold at an average price of $130.31, for a total transaction of $1,954,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 592,133 shares in the company, valued at $77,160,851.23. This represents a 2.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 have sold 87,000 shares of company stock worth $11,562,960 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GILD opened at $146.74 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 firm has a market capitalization of $181.95 billion, a PE ratio of -54.96 and a beta of 0.32. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $132.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $136.57.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($6.75) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($7.25) by $0.50. The company had revenue of $7.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.40 billion. Gilead Sciences had a negative return on equity of 2.11% and a negative net margin of 10.64%.Gilead Sciences’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.01 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post -0.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is presently -122.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GILD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Leerink Partners cut shares of Gilead Sciences from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $146.00 to $127.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Daiwa Securities Group reduced their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $161.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Weiss Ratings lowered Gilead Sciences from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. Twenty-four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.