Empower Advisory Group LLC Sells 3,420 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Empower Advisory Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 31.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,536 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 3,420 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $632,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 114,732,575 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,404,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,147 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 1st quarter worth about $134,489,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 8,238.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,642,504 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $137,708,000 after buying an additional 1,622,806 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 2.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Gilead Sciences by 24.7% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,889,663 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $541,310,000 after buying an additional 1,564,792 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $74.00 to $96.00 in a report on Monday, October 21st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.10.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD opened at $92.11 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $114.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,023.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.17. The company’s 50-day moving average is $86.22 and its 200 day moving average is $75.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.11. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $62.07 and a fifty-two week high of $98.90.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.44. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The firm had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3,422.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total value of $2,341,485.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 99,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,113,308.50. This trade represents a 20.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total transaction of $2,459,529.46. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 78,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,545,480.06. This trade represents a 27.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,947 shares of company stock worth $4,968,674 over the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.