Empirical Finance LLC Buys 1,527 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 3.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,447 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 1,527 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $3,329,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 18,318 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,486,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 8,862 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $718,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,607 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. Steph & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 7,548 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $611,000 after acquiring an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, First Affirmative Financial Network lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.5% in the first quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 4,342 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $318,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on GILD. Maxim Group cut their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $74.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Monday, July 1st. HSBC upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $69.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $84.00.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GILD traded down $0.01 during trading on Friday, reaching $69.96. 4,365,436 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,493,172. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $62.07 and a 52-week high of $87.86. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $66.32 and a 200-day moving average of $71.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 194.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.18.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.32) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.49) by $0.17. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 24.34% and a net margin of 1.76%. The firm had revenue of $6.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 27th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.40%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 855.56%.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.63, for a total transaction of $137,260.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,614,559.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Gilead Sciences Company 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.