Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Price Target Raised to $81.00

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) had its target price lifted by Royal Bank of Canada from $75.00 to $81.00 in a report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

GILD has been the topic of a number of other reports. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial increased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $91.50.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD traded down $1.34 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $96.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,457,030 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,289,753. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $85.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.09. The company has a market capitalization of $120.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,072.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Gilead Sciences has a fifty-two week low of $62.07 and a fifty-two week high of $98.32.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.44. The company had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 28.60%. The company’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 3,422.22%.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In related news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 5,490 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.98, for a total transaction of $406,150.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 114,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,506,146.42. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total transaction of $167,660.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 100,189 shares in the company, valued at $8,398,843.87. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 5,490 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.98, for a total value of $406,150.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 114,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,506,146.42. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 62,437 shares of company stock valued at $5,374,825 in the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 114,732,575 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,404,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,147 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the first quarter valued at approximately $134,489,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 8,238.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,642,504 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $137,708,000 after acquiring an additional 1,622,806 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 61,246,366 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,486,296,000 after acquiring an additional 1,589,240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 24.7% during the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,889,663 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $541,310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,564,792 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.