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

Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $83.94.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GILD. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday. Raymond James upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $93.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, July 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GILD opened at $84.43 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $105.19 billion, a PE ratio of 234.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.18. Gilead Sciences has a 1-year low of $62.07 and a 1-year high of $87.86.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.40. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 3.79% and a return on equity of 29.34%. The firm had revenue of $6.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.64 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Gilead Sciences will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 855.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total transaction of $2,459,529.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 78,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,545,480.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total value of $167,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 100,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,398,843.87. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total transaction of $2,459,529.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 78,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,545,480.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 36,847 shares of company stock valued at $3,033,340 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GILD. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 114,732,575 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,404,161,000 after buying an additional 2,910,147 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,630,134 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,509,227,000 after buying an additional 2,350,550 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences during the 1st quarter valued at about $134,489,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 59,657,126 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,832,824,000 after purchasing an additional 1,743,418 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 83,364,123 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,753,350,000 after purchasing an additional 1,642,736 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.