Empower Advisory Group LLC Has $568,000 Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Empower Advisory Group LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 18.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,144 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,392 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $568,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 118.5% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 284 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 101.9% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 248,645 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.76, for a total value of $23,064,310.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 138,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,886,126.44. This trade represents a 64.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total value of $15,094,275.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 80,801 shares in the company, valued at $7,427,227.92. The trade was a 67.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 713,000 shares of company stock worth $67,945,181. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 2.3 %

GILD stock opened at $107.65 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $94.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.23. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.07 and a fifty-two week high of $107.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $134.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 290.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.20.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. Analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.94%. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 832.43%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GILD. UBS Group increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Maxim Group downgraded Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $109.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.08.

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.