Citigroup Upgrades Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) to Strong-Buy

Citigroup upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

GILD has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Leerink Partnrs raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Gilead Sciences from $75.00 to $81.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $93.86.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $88.40 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market cap of $110.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 982.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.17. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.96. Gilead Sciences has a 52 week low of $62.07 and a 52 week high of $98.90.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences will post 4.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3,422.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total value of $2,341,485.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 99,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,113,308.50. The trade was a 20.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total value of $2,459,529.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 78,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,545,480.06. The trade was a 27.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,947 shares of company stock worth $4,968,674 in the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GILD. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 198.3% in the 2nd quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 358 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 101.9% in the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Cedar Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 51.6% in the 2nd quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. 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.