Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) had its price target raised by Morgan Stanley from $123.00 to $130.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

GILD has been the topic of a number of other reports. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Bank of America upped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. DZ Bank raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.52.

Gilead Sciences Stock Down 2.4 %

Gilead Sciences stock opened at $114.43 on Tuesday. Gilead Sciences has a 52 week low of $62.07 and a 52 week high of $119.96. The stock has a market cap of $142.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 309.27, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $100.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $92.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 expect that Gilead Sciences will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.76%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is 854.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.09, for a total value of $260,225.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 169,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,597,559.49. This trade represents a 1.46 % 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. Insiders have sold a total of 293,356 shares of company stock worth $29,166,240 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Swedbank AB increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,047,609 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $171,672,000 after purchasing an additional 189,622 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the third quarter worth $245,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the third quarter valued at $102,000. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC bought a new position in Gilead Sciences in the third quarter valued at about $201,000. Finally, Addison Advisors LLC increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 42.8% in the third quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 677 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.