The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Trims Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lessened its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,342,411 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 260,875 shares during the quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $531,748,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GILD. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 0.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,414,268 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $851,743,000 after purchasing an additional 93,068 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,412,413 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $714,421,000 after acquiring an additional 268,208 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 24.7% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,889,663 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $541,310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,564,792 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Gilead Sciences by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,752,975 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $650,009,000 after acquiring an additional 224,960 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 0.4% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,342,831 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $553,285,000 after purchasing an additional 22,847 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 99,599 shares in the company, valued at $9,113,308.50. The trade was a 20.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total transaction of $2,459,529.46. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 78,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,545,480.06. The trade was a 27.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 56,947 shares of company stock valued at $4,968,674. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GILD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Leerink Partners raised Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $74.00 to $96.00 in a report on Monday, October 21st. Truist Financial upped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $83.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Twelve 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.41.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

GILD stock opened at $90.49 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $112.77 billion, a PE ratio of 1,005.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.17. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.07 and a 12 month high of $98.90. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $87.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $7.55 billion during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.40%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.