Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD Shares Sold by Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC lessened its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 52.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,469 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 18,402 shares during the quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $1,828,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GILD. Csenge Advisory Group raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 319.0% in the 3rd quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 21,394 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,375,000 after acquiring an additional 16,288 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 52.1% in the third quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 78,494 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,713,000 after purchasing an additional 26,882 shares during the period. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 249.1% in the third quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 10,045 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,115,000 after purchasing an additional 7,168 shares during the last quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 3.1% in the third quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 1,415,665 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $157,139,000 after purchasing an additional 42,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TriaGen Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences during the third quarter worth about $1,274,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Gilead Sciences

Here are the key news stories impacting Gilead Sciences this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Daiwa Securities raised its price target on GILD to $161 and kept an “outperform” rating — a signal that some sell‑side desks see ~double‑digit upside from current levels. Daiwa Securities adjusts price target on Gilead Sciences to $161 from $129; maintains outperform
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised multiple quarterly and multi‑year EPS estimates (FY2026–FY2028), reflecting better near‑term earnings visibility and supporting consensus upward revisions for 2026–2027 (Zacks now modeling higher EPS across several quarters).
• Positive Sentiment: UBS reiterated a Buy and kept a $175 price target, citing Gilead’s advancing long‑acting HIV franchise as a durable competitive advantage for future revenue growth. Gilead Sciences: Advancing Long-Acting HIV Franchise Underscores Competitive Edge and Supports Buy Rating
• Positive Sentiment: New Phase 3 ARTISTRY data presented at CROI show Gilead’s investigational single‑tablet bictegravir/lenacapavir maintained virological suppression with low discontinuation—strengthening Gilead’s HIV pipeline narrative and potential product breadth. Gilead’s Single-Tablet Regimen Maintained Virological Suppression (Business Wire)
• Neutral Sentiment: Gilead agreed to acquire Arcellx for $115/share (~$7.8B) to bolster its oncology/BCMA pipeline — strategic for growth but sizable; market reaction can be mixed while investors assess synergies, price and integration. Gilead Snaps Up Arcellx For $115 Per Share — A $7.8 Billion Bet On Cancer Therapy
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive pressure: Merck’s two‑drug HIV regimen matched Gilead’s Biktarvy in Phase 3 and is under FDA review — a meaningful competitor that raises pricing and market‑share concerns in the core HIV franchise. Merck’s New HIV Drug Shows Promise (Yahoo Finance)
• Negative Sentiment: Large M&A and ongoing competition increase near‑term uncertainty (integration costs, potential dilution, and execution risk), which can pressure the stock despite positive fundamental news.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.44, for a total transaction of $4,324,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 120,288 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,577,278.72. This trade represents a 18.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel Patrick O’day sold 115,640 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.00, for a total transaction of $15,611,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 566,698 shares in the company, valued at approximately $76,504,230. This trade represents a 16.95% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 299,280 shares of company stock valued at $42,487,570 in the last 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on GILD. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $145.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $128.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Daiwa Securities Group lifted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $129.00 to $161.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. Twenty-three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $156.72.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Gilead Sciences stock opened at $143.77 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $135.61 and its 200 day moving average price is $124.58. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a one year low of $93.37 and a one year high of $157.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $178.48 billion, a PE ratio of 21.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.36.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.93 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.68 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 28.90%.Gilead Sciences’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.90 earnings per share. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.450-8.850 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is currently 46.68%.

Gilead Sciences Profile

Gilead Sciences, Inc, founded in 1987 and headquartered in Foster City, California, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of medicines in areas of high unmet medical need. The company initially built its reputation in antiviral therapies and has since expanded into oncology, cell therapy and inflammatory diseases. Gilead operates a global research and commercial organization, conducting clinical development and selling medicines in markets around the world.

Gilead’s product portfolio is anchored by antiviral therapies for HIV and viral hepatitis.