Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Receives $82.06 Consensus Target Price from Analysts

Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $83.94.

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $93.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, July 8th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Gilead Sciences stock opened at $84.43 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $105.19 billion, a PE ratio of 234.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.18. Gilead Sciences has a 52-week low of $62.07 and a 52-week high of $87.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company’s 50 day moving average is $79.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.90.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $6.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.64 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 3.79% and a return on equity of 29.34%. On average, research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is currently 855.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total transaction of $2,459,529.46. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 78,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,545,480.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total value of $167,660.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 100,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,398,843.87. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total transaction of $2,459,529.46. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 78,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,545,480.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 36,847 shares of company stock valued at $3,033,340. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 198.3% in the second quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 358 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Palisade Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 51.6% during the second quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

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.