Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Price Target Raised to $115.00

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) had its price target boosted by BMO Capital Markets from $110.00 to $115.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Maxim Group cut shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $84.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.33.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 1.8 %

Gilead Sciences stock opened at $104.08 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $93.63 and its 200-day moving average is $87.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.26. Gilead Sciences has a 1 year low of $62.07 and a 1 year high of $106.69. The company has a market cap of $129.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,156.44, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.18.

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, equities analysts expect that Gilead Sciences will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is presently 854.05%.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 248,645 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.76, for a total transaction of $23,064,310.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 138,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,886,126.44. The trade was a 64.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total transaction of $15,094,275.12. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 80,801 shares in the company, valued at $7,427,227.92. The trade was a 67.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 710,500 shares of company stock valued at $67,684,956. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bellevue Group AG grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 18.2% in the third quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 46,027 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,859,000 after acquiring an additional 7,093 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 149.5% in the third quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 81,620 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,843,000 after acquiring an additional 48,910 shares in the last quarter. McAdam LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 25,372 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,344,000 after buying an additional 3,627 shares during the period. IRON Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 3rd quarter worth $830,000. Finally, Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 387,492 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $35,793,000 after buying an additional 9,791 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.