Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Reduces Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund reduced its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 8.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,861 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 3,323 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $3,090,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the first quarter valued at about $217,000. M&G Plc purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 1st quarter valued at about $7,082,000. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 12.9% during the 1st quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,941 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $206,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the period. Allstate Corp increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 4,249 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chiron Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Gilead Sciences by 47.4% during the 1st quarter. Chiron Capital Management LLC now owns 19,571 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,434,000 after acquiring an additional 6,291 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Gilead Sciences Stock Down 4.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $88.40 on Friday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.07 and a 1 year high of $98.90. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $86.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.96. The company has a market cap of $110.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 982.22, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

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

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GILD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.86.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total value of $167,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 100,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,398,843.87. The trade was a 1.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total value of $2,459,529.46. Following the sale, the insider now owns 78,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,545,480.06. This represents a 27.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,947 shares of company stock valued at $4,968,674 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.