Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Insider Johanna Mercier Sells 3,000 Shares of Stock

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) insider Johanna Mercier sold 3,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.31, for a total transaction of $372,930.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 103,221 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,831,402.51. This represents a 2.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Johanna Mercier also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, December 15th, Johanna Mercier sold 3,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $122.00, for a total transaction of $366,000.00.
• On Monday, November 17th, Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.86, for a total value of $3,524,080.00.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

NASDAQ:GILD opened at $124.91 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $123.36 and its 200 day moving average is $118.02. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $91.68 and a 12 month high of $128.70. The company has a market capitalization of $154.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.31. The business had revenue of $7.77 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.42 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 51.86% and a net margin of 27.88%.The company’s revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.02 EPS. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.050-8.250 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were given a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is currently 48.99%.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.6% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,364,226 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,233,912,000 after buying an additional 1,893,401 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,207,662 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,231,548,000 after acquiring an additional 727,515 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,150,268,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,139,681 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,680,505,000 after acquiring an additional 1,618,453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 10,467,411 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,167,221,000 after acquiring an additional 1,614,355 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GILD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $133.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $143.00 to $153.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $140.00 price objective on the stock. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.16.

About Gilead Sciences

Gilead Sciences, Inc, founded in 1987 and headquartered in Foster City, California, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of medicines in areas of high unmet medical need. The company initially built its reputation in antiviral therapies and has since expanded into oncology, cell therapy and inflammatory diseases. Gilead operates a global research and commercial organization, conducting clinical development and selling medicines in markets around the world.

Gilead’s product portfolio is anchored by antiviral therapies for HIV and viral hepatitis.