Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-five research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $94.00.

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Maxim Group lowered shares of Gilead Sciences from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total value of $2,459,529.46. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 78,127 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,545,480.06. The trade was a 27.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total transaction of $2,341,485.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 99,599 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,113,308.50. This represents a 20.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,947 shares of company stock worth $4,968,674 over the last 90 days. 0.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GILD. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,443 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $2,249,000 after buying an additional 917 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.6% in the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 9,626 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $807,000 after acquiring an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 10.6% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 57,509 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $4,822,000 after acquiring an additional 5,497 shares during the period. TT International Asset Management LTD purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences during the third quarter worth about $1,257,000. Finally, Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,882 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,932,000 after purchasing an additional 2,043 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Gilead Sciences stock traded up $0.88 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $88.63. The company had a trading volume of 4,553,040 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,105,782. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Gilead Sciences has a 12-month low of $62.07 and a 12-month high of $98.90. The company has a market capitalization of $110.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 984.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.17. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $87.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.52.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last announced its 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. The company had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3,422.22%.

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.