Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Earns “Hold” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their hold rating on shares of Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) in a research note released on Thursday, Benzinga reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. StockNews.com upgraded Gilead Sciences from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Saturday, April 27th. Raymond James upgraded Gilead Sciences from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $93.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Evercore ISI upgraded Gilead Sciences to a strong-buy rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $75.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $71.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $81.94.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $73.78 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $91.92 billion, a PE ratio of 204.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.18. Gilead Sciences has a fifty-two week low of $62.07 and a fifty-two week high of $87.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $70.80 and a 200-day moving average of $70.26.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 855.56%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 5,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 114,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,506,146.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.63, for a total transaction of $137,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 96,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,614,559.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 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 approximately $8,506,146.42. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 2.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 2,910,147 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 84,497,404 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,189,435,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133,281 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 61,246,366 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,486,296,000 after acquiring an additional 1,589,240 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,630,134 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,509,227,000 after acquiring an additional 2,350,550 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,301,624,000. 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.