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

Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-seven ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $98.39.

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GILD. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $74.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Maxim Group downgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Leerink Partnrs raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $84.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of GILD opened at $96.04 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.26. Gilead Sciences has a 52-week low of $62.07 and a 52-week high of $100.51. The firm has a market cap of $119.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,067.11, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.18. The business’s fifty day moving average is $93.04 and its 200-day moving average is $86.76.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. The firm had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.29 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences will post 4.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 248,645 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.76, for a total value of $23,064,310.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 138,919 shares in the company, valued at $12,886,126.44. This trade represents a 64.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total transaction of $15,094,275.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 80,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,427,227.92. The trade was a 67.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 572,824 shares of company stock worth $53,611,715 over the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 118.5% during the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 284 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 101.9% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

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.