Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Cut to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

GILD has been the subject of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Gilead Sciences from $166.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 19th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Leerink Partners cut shares of Gilead Sciences from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $146.00 to $127.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Twenty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $158.78.

Gilead Sciences Stock Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $149.05 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $142.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.47. The company has a market capitalization of $184.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -55.82 and a beta of 0.33. Gilead Sciences has a 1 year low of $108.46 and a 1 year high of $157.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($6.75) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($7.25) by $0.50. Gilead Sciences had a negative return on equity of 2.11% and a negative net margin of 10.64%.The business had revenue of $7.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.01 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences will post -0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In other news, Director Anthony Welters sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.62, for a total value of $2,675,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 12,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,916,306.28. This trade represents a 58.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.64, for a total transaction of $3,853,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 118,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,273,727.76. The trade was a 19.15% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 90,000 shares of company stock worth $12,722,040 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GILD. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 227,523 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $28,745,000 after purchasing an additional 1,277 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 61,216,552 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,734,099,000 after buying an additional 1,357,967 shares during the period. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $63,000. Anchor Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 843.7% in the second quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 2,831 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $358,000 after buying an additional 2,531 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bullseye Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,085,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Company Profile

Gilead Sciences, Inc (NASDAQ: GILD) is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and commercializes medicines for serious and life-threatening diseases. Its research and commercial activities focus primarily on virology, including HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, as well as oncology, inflammation and other areas of significant unmet medical need.

Gilead’s portfolio includes HIV treatments such as Biktarvy, Descovy, Genvoya and Sunlenca; hepatitis therapies including Epclusa, Harvoni and Vemlidy; and Veklury (remdesivir), an antiviral used to treat COVID-19 in certain patients.