Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $106.80 and last traded at $106.27, with a volume of 328148 shares. The stock had previously closed at $105.25.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on GILD. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $109.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.08.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 1.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $94.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.09. The company has a market cap of $133.45 billion, a PE ratio of 289.32, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.18.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 31.63%. On average, analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.94 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is presently 832.43%.

Insider Activity

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 80,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,427,227.92. This represents a 67.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $23,064,310.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 138,919 shares in the company, valued at $12,886,126.44. This trade represents a 64.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 710,500 shares of company stock valued at $67,684,956. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 118.5% during the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 284 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 101.9% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

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.