Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Price Target Raised to $96.00

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) had its target price hoisted by analysts at UBS Group from $70.00 to $96.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. UBS Group’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 6.95% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Maxim Group lowered Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Gilead Sciences from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.41.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

NASDAQ GILD traded up $1.13 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $89.76. The stock had a trading volume of 4,057,263 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,092,298. Gilead Sciences has a 52-week low of $62.07 and a 52-week high of $98.90. The company has a market cap of $111.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 997.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.17. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $87.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.44. The firm had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. Gilead Sciences’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.29 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 79.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,162,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,780,329,000 after purchasing an additional 14,680,161 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 50.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,600,676 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,900,921,000 after buying an additional 11,665,593 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 1st quarter worth $134,489,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 350.1% in the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,305,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $193,274,000 after acquiring an additional 1,793,145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 8,238.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,642,504 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $137,708,000 after purchasing an additional 1,622,806 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Gilead Sciences

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.