Gilead Sciences’ (GILD) Hold Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their hold rating on shares of Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) in a research note released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on GILD. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Leerink Partnrs raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.04.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ GILD opened at $103.31 on Wednesday. Gilead Sciences has a 1 year low of $62.07 and a 1 year high of $104.71. 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 cap of $128.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,147.89, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $93.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.12.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Gilead Sciences will post 4.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3,422.22%.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total value of $15,094,275.12. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 80,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,427,227.92. This trade represents a 67.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total value of $620,355.32. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 8,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $815,198.80. The trade was a 43.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 572,824 shares of company stock valued at $53,611,715 in the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 1.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,171,691 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,044,795,000 after purchasing an additional 841,776 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Gilead Sciences by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,659,007 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,293,822,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,331 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 79.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,162,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,780,329,000 after acquiring an additional 14,680,161 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,289,917 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,608,337,000 after acquiring an additional 749,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at $1,789,254,000. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.