Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Shares Acquired by Synovus Financial Corp

Synovus Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 99.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,265 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 18,592 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $3,124,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,171,691 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,044,795,000 after acquiring an additional 841,776 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 50.9% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,600,676 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,900,921,000 after purchasing an additional 11,665,593 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 79.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,162,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,780,329,000 after buying an additional 14,680,161 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,540,870 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,302,119,000 after buying an additional 574,421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,414,268 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $851,743,000 after acquiring an additional 93,068 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $84.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.43.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of GILD opened at $91.86 on Friday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.07 and a 52-week high of $98.90. The stock has a market cap of $114.48 billion, a PE ratio of 1,020.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $89.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.44. The firm had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. Gilead Sciences’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.29 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 3,422.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total value of $620,355.32. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $815,198.80. This represents a 43.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total value of $2,341,485.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 99,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,113,308.50. The trade was a 20.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 447,234 shares of company stock valued at $41,288,086. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.