HighTower Advisors LLC Lowers Stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,661,355 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 11,942 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $203,915,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 52.1% in the 3rd quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 78,494 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,713,000 after purchasing an additional 26,882 shares during the period. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 249.1% in the 3rd quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 10,045 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,115,000 after purchasing an additional 7,168 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 221,890 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $24,630,000 after purchasing an additional 23,046 shares during the period. Sector Gamma AS raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sector Gamma AS now owns 147,239 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $16,344,000 after purchasing an additional 20,239 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Wealth LLC raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 619,690 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $75,962,000 after purchasing an additional 17,284 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock opened at $129.67 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $137.46 and a 200 day moving average of $133.40. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52 week low of $102.84 and a 52 week high of $157.29. The company has a market cap of $160.99 billion, a PE ratio of 17.67 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a quick ratio of 1.77, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.91 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 30.99% and a return on equity of 48.19%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.81 earnings per share. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2026 guidance at -1.050–0.650 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post -0.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is presently 44.69%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GILD shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Gilead Sciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 26th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Twenty-four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $157.04.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CEO Daniel Patrick O’day sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.16, for a total value of $1,291,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 632,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $81,702,353.72. This represents a 1.56% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.29, for a total value of $3,676,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 125,779 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,513,524.91. The trade was a 18.21% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 63,000 shares of company stock worth $8,523,570 over the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Gilead Sciences Company Profile

Gilead Sciences, Inc, founded in 1987 and headquartered in Foster City, California, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of medicines in areas of high unmet medical need. The company initially built its reputation in antiviral therapies and has since expanded into oncology, cell therapy and inflammatory diseases. Gilead operates a global research and commercial organization, conducting clinical development and selling medicines in markets around the world.

Gilead’s product portfolio is anchored by antiviral therapies for HIV and viral hepatitis.