Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. Buys Shares of 183,684 Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Daiichi Life Insurance Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 183,684 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,207,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new position in Gilead Sciences during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 71.4% during the fourth quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 204 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Quattro Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 60.0% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC now owns 216 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of GILD stock opened at $146.12 on Friday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $108.46 and a 12 month high of $157.29. The company has a market capitalization of $181.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -54.73 and a beta of 0.32. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $131.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($6.75) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($7.25) by $0.50. The business had revenue of $7.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.40 billion. Gilead Sciences had a negative return on equity of 2.11% and a negative net margin of 10.64%.Gilead Sciences’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.01 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post -0.51 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is -122.85%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In related news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.64, for a total value of $3,853,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 118,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,273,727.76. This represents a 19.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $138.36, for a total transaction of $415,080.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 165,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,918,780.56. This represents a 1.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 87,000 shares of company stock worth $11,562,960. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GILD. Maxim Group raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Barclays decreased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $133.00 to $155.00 in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Twenty-four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.04.

Gilead Sciences Company Profile

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.