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-seven ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have issued a buy recommendation and three have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $96.43.

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Gilead Sciences in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Leerink Partners raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $74.00 to $96.00 in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Daiwa America raised shares of Gilead Sciences to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total value of $167,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 100,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,398,843.87. The trade was a 1.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total value of $620,355.32. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,920 shares in the company, valued at $815,198.80. The trade was a 43.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 447,234 shares of company stock valued at $41,288,086 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GILD. FMR LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $2,780,329,000 after buying an additional 14,680,161 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 11,665,593 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 350.1% during the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,305,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $193,274,000 after acquiring an additional 1,793,145 shares in the last quarter. 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. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 24.7% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,889,663 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $541,310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,564,792 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $91.86 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,020.61, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.18. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $89.96 and its 200 day moving average is $79.55. Gilead Sciences has a 52 week low of $62.07 and a 52 week high of $98.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3,422.22%.

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.