Avantax Planning Partners Inc. Has $338,000 Position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 9.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,659 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $338,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 79.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,162,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,780,329,000 after purchasing an additional 14,680,161 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 50.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,600,676 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,900,921,000 after purchasing an additional 11,665,593 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 723.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,434,665 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $594,370,000 after purchasing an additional 5,653,075 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter worth $207,340,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 350.1% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,305,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $193,274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,793,145 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total transaction of $228,375.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,863,898.55. This represents a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 311,285 shares of company stock valued at $31,284,910. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GILD opened at $113.99 on Thursday. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12-month low of $62.07 and a 12-month high of $119.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.96 billion, a PE ratio of 308.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $100.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $92.33.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 31.63%. Research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.77%. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 854.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on GILD shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $104.52.

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.