Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,034,060 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 10,076 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.24% of Gilead Sciences worth $280,256,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,422 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $782,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 3,128 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA raised its stake in Gilead Sciences by 3.8% during the third quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 3,056 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $256,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Berkshire Bank lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Berkshire Bank now owns 3,398 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TFB Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 9,397 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $788,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GILD. UBS Group raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $83.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $84.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Monday. 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 for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Gilead Sciences from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $87.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $98.39.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

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 shares were sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total value of $620,355.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $815,198.80. This represents a 43.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total transaction of $15,094,275.12. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 80,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,427,227.92. The trade was a 67.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 572,824 shares of company stock valued at $53,611,715 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $98.04 on Friday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.07 and a twelve month high of $100.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $92.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.41. The company has a market capitalization of $122.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,089.33, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.18.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its 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. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The firm had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.