Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-seven research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $96.43.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on GILD shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $84.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target 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. Daiwa America raised shares of Gilead Sciences to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Maxim Group cut shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $109.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Tuesday, December 10th.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of GILD stock opened at $91.09 on Friday. Gilead Sciences has a 12 month low of $62.07 and a 12 month high of $98.90. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $90.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $80.22. The firm has a market cap of $113.52 billion, a PE ratio of 1,012.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.44. The company had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.29 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences will post 4.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.38%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3,422.22%.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total transaction of $620,355.32. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $815,198.80. The trade was a 43.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.96, for a total value of $781,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 132,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,173,021.08. The trade was a 6.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 455,734 shares of company stock valued at $42,069,746. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GILD. Lantz Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 24,920 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,710,000 after buying an additional 840 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 280.3% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,712 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $345,000 after acquiring an additional 3,473 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 133.6% in the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 619 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 2,302,754 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $157,992,000 after purchasing an additional 271,545 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 355,953 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $24,422,000 after purchasing an additional 8,529 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently 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.