Needham & Company LLC Issues Positive Forecast for Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Stock Price

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) had its target price lifted by Needham & Company LLC from $140.00 to $170.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

GILD has been the subject of a number of other reports. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $140.00 to $145.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $151.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Mizuho upped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Twenty-four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $146.44.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 5.8%

GILD opened at $155.80 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. Gilead Sciences has a 52 week low of $93.37 and a 52 week high of $157.29. The business’s 50 day moving average is $129.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $121.77. The firm has a market cap of $193.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 0.36.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.86 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.03. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 28.90% and a return on equity of 51.04%. The business had revenue of $7.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.450-8.850 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Gilead Sciences will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $3.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.1%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.68%.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In related news, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.50, for a total value of $617,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 8,920 shares in the company, valued at $1,101,620. This trade represents a 35.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Daniel Patrick O’day sold 115,640 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $17,346,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 613,912 shares in the company, valued at $92,086,800. The trade was a 15.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 319,391 shares of company stock valued at $44,141,101. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position 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 valued at $14,863,487,000 after buying an additional 2,113,692 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,207,662 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,231,548,000 after acquiring an additional 727,515 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth about $2,617,152,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 12.0% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,139,681 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,680,505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,618,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 18.2% in the second quarter. Amundi now owns 10,467,411 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,167,221,000 after purchasing an additional 1,614,355 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Gilead Sciences News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat on top and bottom line: Gilead reported Q4 EPS of $1.86 vs. consensus ~$1.83 and revenue roughly $7.9B, powered by HIV and liver‑disease franchises — the core beat is the primary near‑term driver of the rally. Gilead quarterly results beat Wall Street estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple analyst upgrades/price‑target raises: Banks including Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Needham and others bumped targets (some to $160–$177+), reinforcing buy/overweight sentiment and supporting the stock pop. Morgan Stanley raises price target
• Positive Sentiment: Yescarta label expansion and pipeline momentum: Positive commentary about CAR‑T (Yescarta) label expansion and new HIV options (Yeztugo) adds optionality to growth expectations. Yescarta label expansion and dividend growth
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend increase: Board raised the quarterly payout to $0.82 (3.8% increase), supporting income investors and reducing equity downside for dividend‑focused holders. Dividend announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor commentary and transcripts: Earnings call and slides are available for detail on unit trends and margin commentary — useful for modeling but not an immediate directional driver. Earnings call transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest items in recent filings show no meaningful or reliable signal (reported zero/odd values), so ignore those as noise.
• Negative Sentiment: FY‑2026 guidance came in slightly light: Gilead set EPS guidance of $8.45–$8.85 and revenue guidance ~$29.6–$30.0B, marginally below consensus (~$30.1B / ~$8.69 EPS), which caused an initial after‑hours pullback and remains the main near‑term risk to sustaining the rally. Guidance story
• Negative Sentiment: Some cautious analyst views remain: A few firms (e.g., RBC with a lower PT) kept conservative ratings/targets, which could cap upside if other brokers re‑rate lower or fundamentals disappoint. Analyst notes (RBC)

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.