Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Upgraded by Morgan Stanley to “Overweight” Rating

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) was upgraded by Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $113.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $87.00. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 25.72% from the stock’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $83.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $97.96.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

GILD opened at $89.88 on Friday. Gilead Sciences has a 1 year low of $62.07 and a 1 year high of $98.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The company has a market capitalization of $112.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 998.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $91.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.29.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 248,645 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.76, for a total transaction of $23,064,310.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 138,919 shares in the company, valued at $12,886,126.44. The trade was a 64.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total transaction of $2,341,485.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 99,599 shares in the company, valued at $9,113,308.50. The trade was a 20.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 453,734 shares of company stock valued at $41,902,086. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GILD. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 101.9% in 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 last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 51.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences in the 3rd quarter worth $50,000. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.