Russell Investments Group Ltd. Lowers Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. decreased its holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 16.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,082,902 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 209,199 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $87,737,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,909,619 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,267,207,000 after buying an additional 158,794 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,922,488 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,118,291,000 after purchasing an additional 504,475 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,046,652 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $408,829,000 after purchasing an additional 493,920 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,773,688 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $357,740,000 after purchasing an additional 531,314 shares during the period. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 179.0% during the 3rd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 4,543,985 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $340,526,000 after purchasing an additional 2,915,141 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total transaction of $145,920.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,026,339.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of GILD traded up $0.15 during trading on Friday, reaching $65.42. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 12,382,425 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,443,315. The company has a fifty day moving average of $71.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.25. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a twelve month low of $64.63 and a twelve month high of $87.86. The company has a market cap of $81.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 181.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.49) by $0.17. The company had revenue of $6.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.36 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 23.08% and a net margin of 1.76%. Gilead Sciences’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 3.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 855.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on GILD shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $74.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Truist Financial cut Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $91.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Barclays decreased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 12th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 4th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.87.

Gilead Sciences Profile

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.