Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Shares Gap Up to $80.94

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $80.94, but opened at $83.02. Gilead Sciences shares last traded at $82.58, with a volume of 2,257,391 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on GILD. Raymond James raised Gilead Sciences from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $93.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Gilead Sciences to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $95.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 4th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $82.06.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $103.61 billion, a PE ratio of 230.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.18. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $70.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $6.95 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.64 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 3.79% and a return on equity of 29.34%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. Gilead Sciences's payout ratio is 855.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 5,490 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.98, for a total value of $406,150.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 114,979 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,506,146.42. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.63, for a total value of $137,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 96,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,614,559.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 5,490 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.98, for a total transaction of $406,150.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 114,979 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,506,146.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the second quarter valued at about $25,328,000. Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 23.6% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 317,539 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $25,724,000 after acquiring an additional 60,697 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences in the first quarter worth $462,000. Brookstone Capital Management increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 751.1% during the first quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 127,258 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $9,322,000 after purchasing an additional 112,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 329,990 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $26,733,000 after purchasing an additional 31,849 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company's stock.

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.