Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Cut to “Market Perform” at Leerink Partners

Leerink Partners downgraded shares of Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note published on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Leerink Partners currently has $127.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $146.00.

GILD has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Monday, July 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $168.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $157.00 to $156.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $122.00 to $120.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Twenty-five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.33.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ GILD opened at $130.86 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $162.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.83 and a beta of 0.32. The business’s 50 day moving average is $129.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.54. Gilead Sciences has a 12-month low of $108.46 and a 12-month high of $157.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.03 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $6.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.91 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.81 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2026 guidance at -1.050–0.650 EPS. Research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences will post -0.77 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.69%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.92, for a total transaction of $371,760.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 124,234 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,395,077.28. This represents a 2.36% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.40, for a total value of $376,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 171,646 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,524,408.40. This trade represents a 1.72% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 77,000 shares of company stock worth $9,978,740. 0.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GILD. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at $2,617,152,000. Boston Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth $517,808,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3,763.8% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,223,304 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $518,368,000 after purchasing an additional 4,113,999 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 23,121,620 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,837,948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,046,688 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position 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 valued at $14,863,487,000 after purchasing an additional 2,113,692 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Gilead Sciences

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.