abrdn plc Raises Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

abrdn plc grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 89.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,764,107 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,772,887 shares during the quarter. Gilead Sciences accounts for approximately 0.7% of abrdn plc’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. abrdn plc owned about 0.30% of Gilead Sciences worth $304,930,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GILD. Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,856 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $159,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 11,894 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $891,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 18,318 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,486,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 8,862 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,607 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on GILD. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 4th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.71.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of GILD stock traded up $0.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $66.76. The company had a trading volume of 10,657,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,923,117. The company has a market capitalization of $83.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.19. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $71.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.53. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $65.90 and a 52-week high of $87.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.27.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $7.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.10 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 38.85%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.67 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.61%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.44%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total value of $145,920.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,026,339.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Gilead Sciences 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.