Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Earns Outperform Rating from Analysts at Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) in a research report released on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm issued an outperform rating and a $105.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $78.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Truist Financial upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Raymond James upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $93.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.37.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

GILD stock opened at $86.72 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $81.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $72.81. Gilead Sciences has a fifty-two week low of $62.07 and a fifty-two week high of $87.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $108.04 billion, a PE ratio of 240.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.18.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $6.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.64 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 3.79% and a return on equity of 29.34%. Analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 855.56%.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In related news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 5,490 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 5,490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.98, for a total value of $406,150.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 114,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,506,146.42. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total transaction of $167,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 100,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,398,843.87. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 36,847 shares of company stock worth $3,033,340. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GILD. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 114,732,575 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,404,161,000 after acquiring an additional 2,910,147 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the first quarter worth approximately $134,489,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.7% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 61,246,366 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,486,296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,589,240 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 24.7% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,889,663 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $541,310,000 after purchasing an additional 1,564,792 shares during the period. Finally, Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the second quarter worth approximately $102,298,000. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.