Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund Boosts Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 272,384 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 32,721 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $18,688,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 198.3% during the 2nd quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 358 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the period. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Sachetta LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GILD has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Gilead Sciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.06.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.63, for a total value of $137,260.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 96,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,614,559.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.63, for a total value of $137,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,614,559.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 5,490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.98, for a total transaction of $406,150.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 114,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,506,146.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

GILD stock traded down $0.05 during trading on Friday, hitting $78.72. 9,220,980 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,163,236. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.07 and a 1 year high of $87.86. The company has a market cap of $98.07 billion, a PE ratio of 218.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.18. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.40. The firm had revenue of $6.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.64 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 3.79% and a return on equity of 29.34%. On average, equities analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.91%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 855.56%.

Gilead Sciences Company 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.