Morgan Stanley Upgrades Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) to “Overweight”

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) was upgraded by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $113.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $87.00. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 26.77% from the company’s current price.

GILD has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays boosted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $74.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.96.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

GILD opened at $89.14 on Friday. Gilead Sciences has a 12-month low of $62.07 and a 12-month high of $98.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $111.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 990.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.18. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $91.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.06. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. Gilead Sciences’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total transaction of $15,094,275.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 80,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,427,227.92. The trade was a 67.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total transaction of $620,355.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,920 shares in the company, valued at $815,198.80. This represents a 43.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 453,734 shares of company stock worth $41,902,086. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in Gilead Sciences during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 101.9% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Cedar Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 51.6% during the second quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 2nd quarter valued at $43,000. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

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.