Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Lifted to Outperform at Leerink Partners

Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a report published on Monday, Marketbeat reports. Leerink Partners currently has $96.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $74.00.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Gilead Sciences from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, October 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Gilead Sciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Raymond James raised Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $93.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.85.

Gilead Sciences Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $87.23 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $73.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $108.68 billion, a PE ratio of 242.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Gilead Sciences has a 12 month low of $62.07 and a 12 month high of $88.39.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.40. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 3.79% and a return on equity of 29.34%. The business had revenue of $6.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.64 billion. Equities analysts expect that Gilead Sciences will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.53%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 855.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total value of $167,660.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 100,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,398,843.87. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 5,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.98, for a total value of $406,150.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 114,979 shares in the company, valued at $8,506,146.42. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total value of $167,660.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 100,189 shares in the company, valued at $8,398,843.87. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 36,847 shares of company stock valued at $3,033,340 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 114,732,575 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,404,161,000 after acquiring an additional 2,910,147 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the first quarter worth approximately $134,489,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 8,238.4% in 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 in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.7% during the 1st 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. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,564,792 shares during the period. 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.