BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Decreases Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp reduced its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 207,875 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 30,995 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $17,428,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GILD. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 1.2% in the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,422 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $782,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 3,056 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC raised its stake in Gilead Sciences by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 9,397 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $788,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 0.7% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 17,822 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,494,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FDx Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total value of $15,094,275.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 80,801 shares in the company, valued at $7,427,227.92. The trade was a 67.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total transaction of $620,355.32. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $815,198.80. This trade represents a 43.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 227,946 shares of company stock valued at $20,683,305. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GILD opened at $92.58 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.07 and a fifty-two week high of $98.90. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $88.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.76. The stock has a market cap of $115.38 billion, a PE ratio of 1,028.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 0.17.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given 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 3.33%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 3,422.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on GILD shares. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $83.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays increased their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.41.

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.