Krane Funds Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Krane Funds Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,532 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 575 shares during the period. Krane Funds Advisors LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $511,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the third quarter valued at $1,677,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 8.7% in the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 97,505 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,175,000 after acquiring an additional 7,801 shares during the last quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Insigneo Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,096 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $763,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 13.7% during the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 53,951 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,523,000 after acquiring an additional 6,492 shares during the period. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 791.5% during the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 273,685 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $22,946,000 after purchasing an additional 242,985 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GILD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $105.12.

Gilead Sciences Stock Down 4.6 %

NASDAQ GILD opened at $107.25 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $133.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 289.86, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.32. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $62.07 and a 12 month high of $119.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $107.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $95.98.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. Equities research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.79 dividend. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.95%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 854.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 142,180 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.22, for a total transaction of $13,822,739.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,626,253.06. The trade was a 52.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 302,785 shares of company stock worth $30,503,250. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.