King Luther Capital Management Corp Has $746,000 Stock Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

King Luther Capital Management Corp lessened its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 21.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,903 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 2,382 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $746,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,328,000. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 0.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,414,268 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $851,743,000 after purchasing an additional 93,068 shares in the last quarter. IRON Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the third quarter worth $830,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 13.1% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 286,116 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $19,630,000 after buying an additional 33,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 127.6% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 213,901 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $15,668,000 after buying an additional 119,909 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD opened at $90.19 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $87.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.86. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.07 and a fifty-two week high of $98.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $112.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,002.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.17.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. The business 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is currently 3,422.22%.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In related news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total value of $2,459,529.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 78,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,545,480.06. This trade represents a 27.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total value of $167,660.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 100,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,398,843.87. This represents a 1.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,947 shares of company stock valued at $4,968,674 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on GILD. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $83.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy 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 $95.41.

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.