Wolfe Research Begins Coverage on Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD)

Investment analysts at Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Wolfe Research’s target price points to a potential upside of 19.42% from the stock’s previous close.

GILD has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $83.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.86.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of GILD stock opened at $92.11 on Friday. Gilead Sciences has a 1 year low of $62.07 and a 1 year high of $98.90. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $86.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $75.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,023.44, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.17.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. The company had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.01 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total transaction of $2,341,485.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 99,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,113,308.50. This trade represents a 20.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total transaction of $2,459,529.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 78,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,545,480.06. This trade represents a 27.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,947 shares of company stock worth $4,968,674 in the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GILD. Ascent Group LLC raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 29.7% in the third quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 16,673 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,398,000 after buying an additional 3,813 shares during the last quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. now owns 76,595 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,422,000 after acquiring an additional 1,048 shares during the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 1,940.8% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 365,820 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $30,672,000 after acquiring an additional 347,895 shares in the last quarter. Atom Investors LP bought a new position in Gilead Sciences in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,085,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,389,000. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.