Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Sells 2,896 Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Key Points

• Avantax Advisory Services Inc. reduced its stake in Gilead Sciences by 3.0%, selling 2,896 shares and holding a total of 93,849 shares worth approximately $10.5 million.
• Multiple large investors have increased their holdings in Gilead, with FMR LLC boosting its investment by 21.6% and GAMMA Investing LLC by 13,891.1%.
• Gilead Sciences reported earnings of $1.81 per share for the last quarter, surpassing estimates, but its revenue of $6.67 billion slightly fell short of expectations.

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. cut its stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) by 3.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 93,849 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after selling 2,896 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Gilead Sciences were worth $10,516,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GILD. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 40,319,432 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,724,306,000 after buying an additional 7,157,113 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 13,891.1% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,550,298 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $285,761,000 after acquiring an additional 2,532,070 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,915,095 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,377,707,000 after acquiring an additional 2,458,954 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 422.6% in the first quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,523,036 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $282,706,000 after acquiring an additional 2,040,261 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,678,751 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $801,655,000 after acquiring an additional 2,005,863 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GILD has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $132.00 to $125.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $133.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $112.36.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of GILD opened at $116.20 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $109.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $106.00. Gilead Sciences, Inc. has a 52-week low of $72.43 and a 52-week high of $119.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.23 and a current ratio of 1.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $144.54 billion, a PE ratio of 24.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 0.29.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.04. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 20.76% and a return on equity of 51.93%. The company had revenue of $6.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.32) earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CEO Daniel Patrick O'day sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.45, for a total value of $1,104,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 615,725 shares in the company, valued at $68,006,826.25. The trade was a 1.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.03, for a total value of $277,575.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 162,610 shares of the company's stock, valued at $18,054,588.30. This represents a 1.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 72,000 shares of company stock valued at $7,844,775. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Gilead Sciences Company 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.

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