Empowered Funds LLC Increases Holdings in Gilead Sciences, Inc. $GILD

Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) by 41.8% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 195,463 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 57,590 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $27,242,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 121,097,336 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $14,863,487,000 after acquiring an additional 2,113,692 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,240,518 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,393,921,000 after acquiring an additional 1,151,213 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,698,660 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,399,734,000 after buying an additional 1,195,269 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 23,121,620 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,837,948,000 after acquiring an additional 3,046,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,617,152,000. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In related news, CEO Daniel Patrick O’day sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.46, for a total transaction of $1,971,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 617,567 shares in the company, valued at $81,185,357.82. This represents a 2.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at $16,513,524.91. This trade represents a 18.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 67,000 shares of company stock valued at $8,687,140. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $130.52 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.97. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $129.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $135.68. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $108.46 and a fifty-two week high of $157.29. The company has a market cap of $162.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.78 and a beta of 0.32.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.81 EPS. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2026 guidance at -1.050–0.650 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post -0.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.82 per share. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.69%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on GILD shares. Citigroup increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Leerink Partners lowered Gilead Sciences from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $146.00 to $127.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group cut their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $161.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Twenty-five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.30.

About Gilead Sciences

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.