Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Purchases 932 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,217 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 932 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $4,084,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bellevue Group AG grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 18.2% in the third quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 46,027 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,859,000 after purchasing an additional 7,093 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 149.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 81,620 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,843,000 after buying an additional 48,910 shares during the last quarter. McAdam LLC increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 25,372 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,344,000 after buying an additional 3,627 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 387,492 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $35,793,000 after acquiring an additional 9,791 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 142,167 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $13,132,000 after acquiring an additional 5,382 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ GILD opened at $117.41 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $99.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $91.39. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $62.07 and a 1 year high of $118.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $146.32 billion, a PE ratio of 317.32, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 854.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GILD has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. DZ Bank upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $104.24.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total transaction of $228,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at $11,863,898.55. The trade was a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 293,356 shares of company stock valued at $29,166,240. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.