Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Leerink Partners raised their price target on Gilead Sciences from $146.00 to $148.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Gilead Sciences from $171.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Gilead Sciences from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $157.00 price objective (up from $155.00) on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Friday. Twenty-four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $157.15.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 2.0%

NASDAQ GILD opened at $131.33 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $139.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $132.87. Gilead Sciences has a twelve month low of $96.18 and a twelve month high of $157.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The company has a market capitalization of $163.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.89, a PEG ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 0.31.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by $0.12. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 49.45% and a net margin of 30.99%.The business had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.91 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.81 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2026 guidance at -1.050–0.650 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences will post -0.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 29th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.82 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is currently 48.45%.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CEO Daniel Patrick O’day sold 10,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.16, for a total value of $1,291,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 632,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,702,353.72. The trade was a 1.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 3,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $154.43, for a total value of $463,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 167,779 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,910,110.97. This represents a 1.76% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 63,000 shares of company stock worth $9,238,250. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake 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 worth $14,863,487,000 after purchasing an additional 2,113,692 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,240,518 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,393,921,000 after purchasing an additional 1,151,213 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,698,660 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,399,734,000 after purchasing an additional 1,195,269 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake 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 worth $2,837,948,000 after purchasing an additional 3,046,688 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter worth about $2,617,152,000. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Gilead Sciences

Here are the key news stories impacting Gilead Sciences this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Truist Financial reaffirmed its buy rating on Gilead and raised its price target to $157 from $155, implying meaningful upside from current levels. Benzinga
• Positive Sentiment: Gilead reported Q1 EPS of $2.03 and revenue of $6.96 billion, both ahead of analyst expectations, supported by HIV and Trodelvy sales growth. Yahoo Finance
• Positive Sentiment: The company raised its Yeztugo 2026 sales guidance to $1 billion from $800 million, signaling stronger-than-expected launch momentum. Yahoo Finance
• Neutral Sentiment: RBC slightly reduced its price target to $122 from $123 and kept a sector perform view, suggesting a more cautious stance but no major change in thesis. Benzinga
• Negative Sentiment: Gilead cut its 2026 EPS guidance to a loss range of -$1.05 to -$0.65, a major deterioration from prior profit expectations, due to acquisition charges and financing costs. Reuters
• Negative Sentiment: Investors also appear concerned that near-term growth is being driven more by older products like Descovy and Biktarvy than by the much-anticipated Yeztugo launch, creating questions about the pace of future growth. Yahoo Finance

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.