Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Stake Increased by MCF Advisors LLC

MCF Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,196 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 573 shares during the period. MCF Advisors LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $583,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

GILD traded up $0.60 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $66.76. 10,657,002 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,923,117. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a one year low of $65.90 and a one year high of $87.86. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.56.

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

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on GILD. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered 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 report on Wednesday, February 7th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $101.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.18, for a total value of $146,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 100,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,386,496.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.