Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on GILD. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Gilead Sciences in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI upgraded Gilead Sciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.86.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GILD opened at $88.40 on Wednesday. Gilead Sciences has a twelve month low of $62.07 and a twelve month high of $98.90. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $86.49 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,007.67, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.17.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. The firm had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. Gilead Sciences’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is 3,422.22%.

Insider Activity

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 78,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,545,480.06. This trade represents a 27.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total value of $2,341,485.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 99,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,113,308.50. The trade was a 20.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,947 shares of company stock worth $4,968,674 in the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in Gilead Sciences in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 101.9% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 198.3% in the second quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 358 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 51.6% during the second quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. 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.