Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-nine analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $105.12.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $123.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 137,676 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.22, for a total value of $14,073,240.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 171,223 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,502,415.06. The trade was a 44.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 302,785 shares of company stock worth $30,540,875 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bridgewater Associates LP boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 122.7% in the fourth quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 460,936 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $42,577,000 after purchasing an additional 253,994 shares during the period. McAdam LLC grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 25,372 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,344,000 after buying an additional 3,627 shares in the last quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 387,492 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $35,793,000 after buying an additional 9,791 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 142,167 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,132,000 after acquiring an additional 5,382 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Financial Private Client LLC lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 1,222.0% in the fourth quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 6,068 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $561,000 after acquiring an additional 5,609 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $104.49 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $109.16 and a 200 day moving average of $97.45. The firm has a market cap of $130.10 billion, a PE ratio of 282.40, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.32. Gilead Sciences has a one year low of $62.07 and a one year high of $119.96.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Gilead Sciences will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.02%. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. 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.