Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Wells Fargo & Company Analyst Says

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) had its target price hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $105.00 to $120.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

GILD has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Leerink Partners raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $74.00 to $96.00 in a report on Monday, October 21st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.33.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 7.5 %

Shares of GILD opened at $103.31 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $128.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,147.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.26. Gilead Sciences has a 52 week low of $62.07 and a 52 week high of $104.71. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $93.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.12.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. On average, analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3,422.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total transaction of $228,375.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,863,898.55. The trade was a 1.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total transaction of $15,094,275.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 80,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,427,227.92. This trade represents a 67.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 572,824 shares of company stock worth $53,611,715 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,908,000. First Western Trust Bank lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. First Western Trust Bank now owns 56,093 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,181,000 after buying an additional 993 shares during the period. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,553 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $328,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 158.8% during the 4th quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 352 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Finally, Pitcairn Co. raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 6,845 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $632,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Company Profile

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.