Banco Santander S.A. Trims Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Banco Santander S.A. decreased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 19.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 273,560 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 66,268 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $22,935,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,414,268 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $851,743,000 after purchasing an additional 93,068 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.6% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,412,413 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $714,421,000 after acquiring an additional 268,208 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 24.7% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,889,663 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $541,310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,564,792 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 6,342,831 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $553,285,000 after acquiring an additional 22,847 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 19.6% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 6,321,167 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $433,695,000 after purchasing an additional 1,036,932 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Barclays upped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Maxim Group downgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.45.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

GILD stock opened at $88.29 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $110.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 984.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.52. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $62.07 and a 52 week high of $98.90.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The business had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.29 EPS. Gilead Sciences’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is 3,422.22%.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 78,127 shares in the company, valued at $6,545,480.06. This trade represents a 27.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction 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 Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total value of $167,660.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 100,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,398,843.87. This trade represents a 1.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,947 shares of company stock worth $4,968,674 in the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.