Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) have earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-six research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have issued a buy recommendation and three have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $95.41.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GILD. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Daiwa America raised Gilead Sciences to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD opened at $91.35 on Wednesday. Gilead Sciences has a 1 year low of $62.07 and a 1 year high of $98.90. The company has a market capitalization of $113.85 billion, a PE ratio of 1,015.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.17. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $87.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The company had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.01 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences will post 4.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3,422.22%.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In other news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 78,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,545,480.06. This represents a 27.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was 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 owns 99,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,113,308.50. The trade was a 20.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,947 shares of company stock valued at $4,968,674 over the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital World Investors grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 84,497,404 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,189,435,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133,281 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.7% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 61,246,366 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,486,296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,589,240 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,171,691 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,044,795,000 after purchasing an additional 841,776 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake 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 worth $2,900,921,000 after buying an additional 11,665,593 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 79.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,162,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,780,329,000 after buying an additional 14,680,161 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by 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.