Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 59,181 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,451,249 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 59,181 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $121,673,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GILD. FMR LLC boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 79.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,162,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,780,329,000 after purchasing an additional 14,680,161 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 50.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,600,676 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,900,921,000 after buying an additional 11,665,593 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Gilead Sciences by 350.1% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,305,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $193,274,000 after buying an additional 1,793,145 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 8,238.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,642,504 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $137,708,000 after acquiring an additional 1,622,806 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 24.7% during 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 1.6 %

GILD opened at $92.57 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $115.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,028.56, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.18. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $90.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.42. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.07 and a twelve month high of $98.90.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3,422.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GILD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Leerink Partnrs raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Maxim Group lowered shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.43.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $620,355.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 8,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $815,198.80. This represents a 43.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 455,734 shares of company stock worth $42,069,746. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Profile

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.