ProShare Advisors LLC Grows Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 39.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,217,290 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 623,752 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $272,150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 121,097,336 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $14,863,487,000 after buying an additional 2,113,692 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,139,681 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,680,505,000 after buying an additional 1,618,453 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 10,210,599 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,133,376,000 after buying an additional 414,454 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,148,405 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $793,506,000 after purchasing an additional 400,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 5,138,699 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $630,056,000 after acquiring an additional 726,101 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.27, for a total value of $396,810.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 173,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,907,973.57. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.29, for a total value of $3,676,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 125,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,513,524.91. The trade was a 18.21% 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 a total of 63,000 shares of company stock worth $8,523,570 in the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GILD has been the subject of several research reports. Scotiabank increased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $140.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Wolfe Research increased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $160.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Leerink Partners cut their price target on Gilead Sciences from $148.00 to $146.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Twenty-four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $157.04.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $129.67 on Tuesday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $102.84 and a 52 week high of $157.29. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $137.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $133.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $160.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.67 and a beta of 0.31.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.12. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 48.19% and a net margin of 30.99%.The business had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.81 EPS. The firm’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. Research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post -0.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.69%.

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.