Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Given New $123.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) had its target price increased by Morgan Stanley from $113.00 to $123.00 in a research report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on GILD. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. 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 note on Thursday, November 7th. Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $83.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.04.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

GILD stock opened at $103.31 on Wednesday. Gilead Sciences has a 1 year low of $62.07 and a 1 year high of $104.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,147.89, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $93.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.12.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. On average, research analysts predict that Gilead Sciences will post 4.35 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.06%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3,422.22%.

Insider Activity

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total value of $228,375.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,863,898.55. This represents a 1.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was 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 owns 80,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,427,227.92. The trade was a 67.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 572,824 shares of company stock worth $53,611,715 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,553 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $328,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 158.8% in the fourth quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 352 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Pitcairn Co. lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 6,845 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $632,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,909 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,005,000 after acquiring an additional 1,125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Motley Fool Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 67,103 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,198,000 after purchasing an additional 8,678 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.