UBS Group Lowers Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Price Target to $75.00

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) had its price target trimmed by UBS Group from $81.00 to $75.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on GILD. Oppenheimer dropped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Gilead Sciences from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 26th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $101.00 to $90.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $84.71.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD opened at $66.76 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.53. Gilead Sciences has a 1 year low of $65.90 and a 1 year high of $87.86. The firm has a market cap of $83.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $7.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.10 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 38.85% and a net margin of 20.89%. Gilead Sciences’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.67 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Gilead Sciences will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.61%. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.44%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.18, for a total transaction of $146,360.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 100,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,386,496.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 9.2% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 57,967 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,446,000 after purchasing an additional 4,877 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 448,409 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,660,000 after buying an additional 16,643 shares during the last quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 44.3% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 8,642 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $514,000 after buying an additional 2,654 shares during the period. Donaldson Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 12.5% during the first quarter. Donaldson Capital Management LLC now owns 5,763 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 641 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ergoteles LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the first quarter valued at $2,304,000. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.