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What Kind Of Investor Owns Most Of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)?

A look at the shareholders of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) can tell us which group is most powerful. Institutions often own shares in more established companies, while it's not unusual to see insiders own a fair bit of smaller companies. We also tend to see lower insider ownership in companies that were previously publicly owned.

Gilead Sciences is a pretty big company. It has a market capitalization of US$83b. Normally institutions would own a significant portion of a company this size. In the chart below below, we can see that institutions own shares in the company. Let's delve deeper into each type of owner, to discover more about GILD.

View our latest analysis for Gilead Sciences

NasdaqGS:GILD Ownership Summary, August 12th 2019
NasdaqGS:GILD Ownership Summary, August 12th 2019

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Gilead Sciences?

Many institutions measure their performance against an index that approximates the local market. So they usually pay more attention to companies that are included in major indices.

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Gilead Sciences already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own 82% of the company. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see Gilead Sciences's historic earnings and revenue, below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

NasdaqGS:GILD Income Statement, August 12th 2019
NasdaqGS:GILD Income Statement, August 12th 2019

Institutional investors own over 50% of the company, so together than can probably strongly influence board decisions. Hedge funds don't have many shares in Gilead Sciences. Quite a few analysts cover the stock, so you could look into forecast growth quite easily.

Insider Ownership Of Gilead Sciences

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. The company management answer to the board; and the latter should represent the interests of shareholders. Notably, sometimes top-level managers are on the board, themselves.

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Our information suggests that Gilead Sciences, Inc. insiders own under 1% of the company. It is a very large company, so it would be surprising to see insiders own a large proportion of the company. Though their holding amount to less than 1%, we can see that board members collectively own US$169m worth of shares (at current prices). It is good to see board members owning shares, but it might be worth checking if those insiders have been buying.

General Public Ownership

The general public holds a 18% stake in GILD. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Next Steps:

While it is well worth considering the different groups that own a company, there are other factors that are even more important.

I like to dive deeper into how a company has performed in the past. You can access this interactive graph of past earnings, revenue and cash flow, for free .

If you are like me, you may want to think about whether this company will grow or shrink. Luckily, you can check this free report showing analyst forecasts for its future.

NB: Figures in this article are calculated using data from the last twelve months, which refer to the 12-month period ending on the last date of the month the financial statement is dated. This may not be consistent with full year annual report figures.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.