Krane Funds Advisors LLC Takes $448,000 Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Krane Funds Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 5,529 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $448,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $210,000. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,787,355 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $306,814,000 after purchasing an additional 175,925 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,281,489 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $589,873,000 after purchasing an additional 87,482 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $74,000. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 317,539 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,724,000 after purchasing an additional 60,697 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ GILD traded up $2.24 on Friday, reaching $65.06. The stock had a trading volume of 9,793,590 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,402,712. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.08 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $66.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $73.33. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 1-year low of $62.07 and a 1-year high of $87.86. The company has a market cap of $81.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 180.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.20.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.32) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.49) by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $6.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.36 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 24.34% and a net margin of 1.76%. The company’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 3.75 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.73%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 855.56%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total transaction of $145,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,026,339.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lowered their price target on Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Barclays lowered their price target on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 29th. HSBC raised Gilead Sciences from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $69.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Friday, April 19th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.69.

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.