Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Stock Price Expected to Rise, BMO Capital Markets Analyst Says

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) had its target price raised by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $110.00 to $115.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price target points to a potential upside of 10.74% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.26.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD traded up $7.71 on Wednesday, hitting $103.85. 6,447,062 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,900,700. Gilead Sciences has a 1-year low of $62.07 and a 1-year high of $104.71. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $93.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $129.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,153.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.18.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Gilead Sciences will post 4.35 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,863,898.55. This represents a 1.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 sale, the director now directly owns 8,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $815,198.80. This trade represents a 43.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 572,824 shares of company stock valued at $53,611,715. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,789,254,000. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 79.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,162,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,780,329,000 after acquiring an additional 14,680,161 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 50.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,600,676 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,900,921,000 after acquiring an additional 11,665,593 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 723.3% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,434,665 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $594,370,000 after acquiring an additional 5,653,075 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth approximately $207,340,000. Hedge funds and other 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.