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

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-five ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $94.00.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GILD shares. Evercore ISI raised Gilead Sciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now owns 99,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,113,308.50. This represents a 20.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total value of $2,459,529.46. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 78,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,545,480.06. This represents a 27.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,947 shares of company stock valued at $4,968,674 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 198.3% during the second quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 358 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Gilead Sciences by 101.9% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Cedar Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 51.6% in the second quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the second quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of GILD opened at $87.75 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $109.36 billion, a PE ratio of 975.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.17. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $86.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $76.44. 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 has a 12-month low of $62.07 and a 12-month high of $98.90.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.