Royal Bank of Canada Raises Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Price Target to $74.00

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) had its price objective boosted by Royal Bank of Canada from $72.00 to $74.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on GILD. Robert W. Baird reiterated a neutral rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Raymond James upgraded Gilead Sciences from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $93.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Needham & Company LLC restated a hold rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a neutral rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $82.06.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ:GILD opened at $78.72 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $98.07 billion, a PE ratio of 218.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.18. Gilead Sciences has a 52-week low of $62.07 and a 52-week high of $87.86. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $74.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.56. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.40. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.34% and a net margin of 3.79%. The company had revenue of $6.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.64 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 855.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 5,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.98, for a total value of $406,150.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 114,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,506,146.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.63, for a total value of $137,260.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 96,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,614,559.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 5,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.98, for a total value of $406,150.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 114,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,506,146.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GILD. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the second quarter valued at $25,328,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 317,539 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,724,000 after acquiring an additional 60,697 shares during the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 635,058 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $51,446,000 after acquiring an additional 37,069 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the first quarter valued at $462,000. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 751.1% during the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 127,258 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,322,000 after acquiring an additional 112,305 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

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.