Morgan Stanley Lowers Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Price Target to $166.00

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) had its price objective lowered by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $168.00 to $166.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price indicates a potential upside of 22.49% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on GILD. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Tuesday, March 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $180.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $156.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Leerink Partners decreased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $148.00 to $146.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lowered their price target on Gilead Sciences from $170.00 to $167.00 in a report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group dropped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $161.00 to $150.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Twenty-six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $159.04.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD traded down $0.83 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $135.53. 3,686,772 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,225,671. The company has a market cap of $168.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.46 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.97. Gilead Sciences has a one year low of $107.75 and a one year high of $157.29. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $129.48 and a 200 day moving average of $134.82.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.12. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 48.19% and a net margin of 30.99%.The company had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.91 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.81 EPS. Gilead Sciences’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2026 guidance at -1.050–0.650 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences will post -0.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.40, for a total transaction of $376,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 171,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,524,408.40. The trade was a 1.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $131.29, for a total value of $3,676,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 125,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,513,524.91. This represents a 18.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 83,000 shares of company stock worth $10,824,500 in the last 90 days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 121,097,336 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $14,863,487,000 after purchasing an additional 2,113,692 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,240,518 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,393,921,000 after buying an additional 1,151,213 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,698,660 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,399,734,000 after buying an additional 1,195,269 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 23,121,620 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,837,948,000 after buying an additional 3,046,688 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth $2,617,152,000. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Gilead Sciences Company Profile

Gilead Sciences, Inc, founded in 1987 and headquartered in Foster City, California, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of medicines in areas of high unmet medical need. The company initially built its reputation in antiviral therapies and has since expanded into oncology, cell therapy and inflammatory diseases. Gilead operates a global research and commercial organization, conducting clinical development and selling medicines in markets around the world.

Gilead’s product portfolio is anchored by antiviral therapies for HIV and viral hepatitis.