Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC Increases Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 3.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,095 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 477 shares during the quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $1,142,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GILD. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,909,619 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,267,207,000 after buying an additional 158,794 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,922,488 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,118,291,000 after purchasing an additional 504,475 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,046,652 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $408,829,000 after purchasing an additional 493,920 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,992,415 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $404,435,000 after purchasing an additional 457,576 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,773,688 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $357,740,000 after buying an additional 531,314 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of GILD stock opened at $65.24 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $70.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.60. The company has a market cap of $81.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 181.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.22. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 12-month low of $64.33 and a 12-month high of $87.86.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.32) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.49) by $0.17. The company had revenue of $6.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.36 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 24.34% and a net margin of 1.76%. Gilead Sciences’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.37 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 3.74 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 855.56%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GILD. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $74.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Truist Financial cut Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $91.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Friday, April 26th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $101.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.69.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total transaction of $145,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,026,339.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

About Gilead Sciences

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.