J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Purchases 2,638 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 41,882 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,638 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $3,393,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GILD. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 9.2% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 57,967 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,446,000 after acquiring an additional 4,877 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 448,409 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,660,000 after purchasing an additional 16,643 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 44.3% during the 1st quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 8,642 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $514,000 after purchasing an additional 2,654 shares during the last quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 12.5% during the 1st quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 5,763 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $343,000 after buying an additional 641 shares during the period. Finally, Ergoteles LLC bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the first quarter worth $2,304,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:GILD traded up $0.60 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $66.76. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,657,002 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,923,117. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $71.96 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.43. The company has a market capitalization of $83.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.19. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12 month low of $65.90 and a 12 month high of $87.86.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.04). Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 38.85% and a net margin of 20.89%. The company had revenue of $7.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a $0.77 dividend. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.44%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GILD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Friday. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $101.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Truist Financial lowered shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $91.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.71.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total value of $145,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,304 shares in the company, valued at $7,026,339.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

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.