Brokerages Set Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Target Price at $104.52

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-nine research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $105.12.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 142,180 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.22, for a total transaction of $13,822,739.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,626,253.06. The trade was a 52.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 302,785 shares of company stock valued at $30,503,250. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,789,254,000. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 79.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,162,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,780,329,000 after purchasing an additional 14,680,161 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 50.9% during the third 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. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 723.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,434,665 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $594,370,000 after purchasing an additional 5,653,075 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,915,095 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,377,707,000 after buying an additional 2,458,954 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ GILD opened at $111.16 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Gilead Sciences has a 52 week low of $62.07 and a 52 week high of $119.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $138.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 300.43, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21. The company has a fifty day moving average of $105.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $94.58.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 31.63%. On average, analysts predict that Gilead Sciences will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 854.05%.

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.