Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on GILD. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $101.00 to $90.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $85.36.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 0.3 %

GILD opened at $73.25 on Tuesday. Gilead Sciences has a fifty-two week low of $71.37 and a fifty-two week high of $87.86. The company’s 50-day moving average is $75.11 and its 200 day moving average is $77.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $91.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.28, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.18.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $7.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.10 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 38.85% and a net margin of 20.89%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.67 EPS. Research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.20%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 68.44%.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.18, for a total transaction of $146,360.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 100,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,386,496.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.18, for a total transaction of $146,360.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 100,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,386,496.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.78, for a total transaction of $428,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 101,534 shares in the company, valued at $8,709,586.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 15,242 shares of company stock worth $1,277,726 in the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GILD. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth about $1,301,624,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 324.8% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 18,002,214 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,070,232,000 after buying an additional 13,764,169 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 96,759.8% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,111,194 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $868,046,000 after purchasing an additional 10,100,755 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 70.6% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 15,492,116 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $921,006,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 78.8% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,632,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $618,268,000 after purchasing an additional 3,362,505 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.