Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Position Trimmed by Kentucky Retirement Systems

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 86,733 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 7,150 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $7,272,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. TFB Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.2% during the third quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 9,397 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $788,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 17,822 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,494,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.2% in the third quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. now owns 5,365 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $450,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.9% in the third quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,249 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,035 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $599,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup initiated coverage on Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Gilead Sciences from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.86.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total value of $2,341,485.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 99,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,113,308.50. This represents a 20.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total value of $2,459,529.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 78,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,545,480.06. This represents a 27.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,947 shares of company stock worth $4,968,674. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of GILD stock opened at $88.40 on Friday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.07 and a 12 month high of $98.90. The firm has a market cap of $110.17 billion, a PE ratio of 982.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $86.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.96.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. The firm had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 3,422.22%.

About Gilead Sciences

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.