KBC Group NV Has $191.37 Million Stock Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

KBC Group NV decreased its position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 37.1% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,282,519 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,344,697 shares during the quarter. Gilead Sciences comprises 0.6% of KBC Group NV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $191,366,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 114,732,575 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,404,161,000 after acquiring an additional 2,910,147 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the first quarter worth $134,489,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 8,238.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,642,504 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $137,708,000 after acquiring an additional 1,622,806 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 61,246,366 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,486,296,000 after acquiring an additional 1,589,240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 24.7% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,889,663 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $541,310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,564,792 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on GILD shares. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Maxim Group downgraded Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $93.10.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

GILD opened at $92.63 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $85.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.57. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.07 and a 1 year high of $98.90. The company has a market capitalization of $115.32 billion, a PE ratio of 1,029.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.17.

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

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3,422.22%.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total transaction of $2,341,485.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 99,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,113,308.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, 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 approximately $6,545,480.06. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total transaction of $2,341,485.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 99,599 shares in the company, valued at $9,113,308.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 56,947 shares of company stock valued at $4,968,674. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.