Prudential Financial Inc. Buys 486,379 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 39.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,707,750 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 486,379 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.14% of Gilead Sciences worth $189,338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 6.5% in the second quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 26,919 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,985,000 after purchasing an additional 1,651 shares during the last quarter. Centric Wealth Management increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 12.9% during the 2nd quarter. Centric Wealth Management now owns 24,023 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,869,000 after buying an additional 2,736 shares during the period. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.6% during the second quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,740 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,615,000 after buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 47.5% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,389,139 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $375,754,000 after acquiring an additional 1,091,559 shares during the period. Finally, Nemes Rush Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2,928.5% in the second quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 22,350 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,478,000 after acquiring an additional 21,612 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $140.00 price target for the company. Truist Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $145.00 price objective (up previously from $127.00) on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 15th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.87.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of GILD opened at $126.64 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $118.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $113.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a one year low of $88.57 and a one year high of $128.70. The company has a market cap of $157.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.32.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.31. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 50.99% and a net margin of 21.86%.The company had revenue of $7.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.42 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.050-8.250 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.23, for a total value of $313,075.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 154,555 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,354,922.65. The trade was a 1.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel Patrick O’day sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.39, for a total value of $1,193,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 581,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $69,389,826.17. This represents a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 125,146 shares of company stock worth $15,148,441 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

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.