Impax Asset Management Group plc Purchases 19,894 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Impax Asset Management Group plc increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 296,565 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,894 shares during the quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $36,400,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 319.0% in the third quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 21,394 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,375,000 after buying an additional 16,288 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 52.1% in the third quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 78,494 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,713,000 after buying an additional 26,882 shares in the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 249.1% in the third quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 10,045 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,115,000 after purchasing an additional 7,168 shares in the last quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.1% in the third quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 1,415,665 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $157,139,000 after purchasing an additional 42,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TriaGen Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the third quarter valued at about $1,274,000. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GILD. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Gilead Sciences in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price target on the stock. Barclays began coverage on Gilead Sciences in a report on Friday, February 20th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $155.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Bank of America set a $162.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Twenty-four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $157.35.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ GILD opened at $130.40 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $142.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $132.02. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1 year low of $93.37 and a 1 year high of $157.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $161.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 0.39.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.83 by $0.03. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 28.90% and a return on equity of 49.46%. The firm had revenue of $7.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.450-8.850 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 8.63 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th were paid a $0.82 dividend. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.96, for a total value of $422,880.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 176,191 shares in the company, valued at $24,835,883.36. This represents a 1.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Daniel Patrick O’day sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.79, for a total value of $1,447,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 642,308 shares in the company, valued at $92,999,775.32. This represents a 1.53% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 178,640 shares of company stock worth $26,691,550 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

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.