Empirical Finance LLC Boosts Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Empirical Finance LLC boosted its position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 2.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 43,324 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 928 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $3,632,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GILD. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 114,732,575 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,404,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,147 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the first quarter worth about $134,489,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 8,238.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,642,504 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $137,708,000 after purchasing an additional 1,622,806 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 61,246,366 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,486,296,000 after buying an additional 1,589,240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 24.7% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,889,663 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $541,310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,564,792 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total transaction of $2,459,529.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 78,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,545,480.06. The trade was a 27.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total transaction of $167,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 100,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,398,843.87. This trade represents a 1.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,947 shares of company stock valued at $4,968,674 over the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Gilead Sciences Stock Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ:GILD opened at $91.42 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $113.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,023.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.17. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a twelve month low of $62.07 and a twelve month high of $98.90.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. The business’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.29 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.39 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3,422.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on GILD. Maxim Group cut shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Gilead Sciences in a report on Friday. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.86.

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.