Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Price Target Raised to $123.00

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) had its price objective hoisted by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $113.00 to $123.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 27.94% from the company’s previous close.

GILD has been the subject of several other reports. UBS Group increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Maxim Group cut Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Gilead Sciences in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.83.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 0.7 %

GILD opened at $96.14 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $93.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.99. The company has a market cap of $119.82 billion, a PE ratio of 1,068.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.18. Gilead Sciences has a 1 year low of $62.07 and a 1 year high of $100.51. 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 (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. Sell-side analysts expect that Gilead Sciences will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 142,180 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.22, for a total value of $13,822,739.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at $12,626,253.06. This trade represents a 52.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total value of $15,094,275.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 80,801 shares in the company, valued at $7,427,227.92. This represents 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 in the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,171,691 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,044,795,000 after acquiring an additional 841,776 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 50.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,600,676 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,900,921,000 after purchasing an additional 11,665,593 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 79.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,162,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,780,329,000 after purchasing an additional 14,680,161 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,540,870 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,302,119,000 after purchasing an additional 574,421 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,002,779 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $739,217,000 after purchasing an additional 249,804 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.