BNP Paribas Boosts Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

BNP Paribas increased its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 33.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 92,553 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 23,078 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $11,362,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,617,152,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 3,763.8% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,223,304 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $518,368,000 after acquiring an additional 4,113,999 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 121,097,336 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $14,863,487,000 after acquiring an additional 2,113,692 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 154.3% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 3,089,283 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $342,910,000 after acquiring an additional 1,874,508 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 12.0% during 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on GILD shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $157.00 target price (up from $155.00) on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Friday, May 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $155.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Leerink Partners cut their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $148.00 to $146.00 in a report on Friday, May 8th. Twenty-six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $156.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.29, for a total value of $3,676,120.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 125,779 shares in the company, valued at $16,513,524.91. This represents a 18.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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, CEO Daniel Patrick O’day sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.16, for a total transaction of $1,291,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 632,567 shares in the company, valued at $81,702,353.72. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 53,000 shares of company stock worth $7,075,670 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Down 2.5%

GILD stock opened at $131.10 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $135.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $134.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.97. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $104.46 and a fifty-two week high of $157.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $162.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.86 and a beta of 0.31.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.12. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 30.99% and a return on equity of 48.19%. The firm had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.91 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.81 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2026 guidance at -1.050–0.650 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post -0.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.82 dividend. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 44.69%.

Gilead Sciences 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.