Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Increases Stock Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd grew its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 42.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 377,017 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 112,395 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $25,867,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GILD. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 2.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 114,732,575 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,404,161,000 after acquiring an additional 2,910,147 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 84,497,404 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,189,435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133,281 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 61,246,366 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,486,296,000 after buying an additional 1,589,240 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,630,134 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,509,227,000 after buying an additional 2,350,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,301,624,000. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In other news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 5,490 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.98, for a total value of $406,150.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 114,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,506,146.42. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.63, for a total transaction of $137,260.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,614,559.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 5,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.98, for a total transaction of $406,150.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 114,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,506,146.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 36,847 shares of company stock valued at $3,002,940 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of GILD stock opened at $82.81 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market cap of $103.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 230.03, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.18. The business’s fifty day moving average is $75.48 and its 200 day moving average is $70.87. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.07 and a twelve month high of $87.86.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.40. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 3.79% and a return on equity of 29.34%. The company had revenue of $6.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.64 billion. Research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 855.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GILD shares. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Evercore ISI raised Gilead Sciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Raymond James raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $93.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.06.

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.