Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Price Target Raised to $96.00

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) had its price target increased by UBS Group from $70.00 to $96.00 in a report published on Thursday,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

GILD has been the subject of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Leerink Partnrs raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Evercore ISI raised Gilead Sciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $96.00 in a report on Monday, October 21st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $95.41.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of GILD opened at $90.19 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $87.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.40 billion, a PE ratio of 1,002.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.17. Gilead Sciences has a one year low of $62.07 and a one year high of $98.90.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The company had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.01 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.29 EPS. Gilead Sciences’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3,422.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the firm’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 value of $167,660.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 100,189 shares in the company, valued at $8,398,843.87. This trade represents a 1.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total value of $2,459,529.46. Following the sale, the insider now owns 78,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,545,480.06. The trade was a 27.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 56,947 shares of company stock valued at $4,968,674. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 79.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,162,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,780,329,000 after acquiring an additional 14,680,161 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 50.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,600,676 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,900,921,000 after purchasing an additional 11,665,593 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 1st quarter worth approximately $134,489,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 350.1% in the third quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,305,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $193,274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,793,145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 8,238.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,642,504 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $137,708,000 after purchasing an additional 1,622,806 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.