Hennessy Advisors Inc. Raises Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Hennessy Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 24.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 85,199 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,899 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $10,764,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GILD. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences in the 2nd quarter worth $15,393,785,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,240,518 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,393,921,000 after buying an additional 1,151,213 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,698,660 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,399,734,000 after acquiring an additional 1,195,269 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 15.2% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,046,688 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,617,152,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Gilead Sciences

Here are the key news stories impacting Gilead Sciences this week:

• Positive Sentiment: The FDA approved Bixlenvo, a once-daily single-tablet regimen combining bictegravir and lenacapavir for virologically suppressed adults with HIV. It is the first and only single-tablet option for patients on complex regimens who cannot use currently available alternatives, potentially expanding Gilead’s HIV franchise and supporting its longer-term lenacapavir strategy. Reuters FDA approval article
• Positive Sentiment: The European Commission approved Trodelvy plus Keytruda for certain first-line metastatic triple-negative breast cancer patients, strengthening Gilead’s oncology portfolio and adding a potential growth opportunity outside its core HIV business. EU Trodelvy approval article
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts remain broadly constructive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of approximately $158. However, GILD’s strong multi-year advance may have raised expectations and limited the immediate upside from the Bixlenvo approval. Gilead valuation article
• Negative Sentiment: Director Anthony Welters sold 18,000 shares worth about $2.68 million, reducing his position by roughly 58%. The sale occurred under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, making it a limited bearish signal, but it may still weigh modestly on investor sentiment. SEC insider transaction filing

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of GILD stock opened at $145.68 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $134.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.62. The stock has a market cap of $180.64 billion, a PE ratio of -54.56 and a beta of 0.32. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $108.46 and a 12 month high of $157.29.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($6.75) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($7.25) by $0.50. Gilead Sciences had a negative net margin of 10.64% and a negative return on equity of 2.11%. The business had revenue of $7.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.01 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post -0.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is presently -122.85%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director directly owned 10,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,459,771.32. This represents a 33.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 3,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.36, for a total value of $415,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 165,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,918,780.56. This represents a 1.78% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 105,000 shares of company stock valued at $14,238,120. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $157.00 to $156.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Daiwa Securities Group decreased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $161.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of 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. Leerink Partners cut Gilead Sciences from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $146.00 to $127.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Twenty-four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.04.

Gilead Sciences 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.