Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Lowered to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report published on Friday morning.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Barclays reduced their target price on Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Truist Financial downgraded Gilead Sciences from a buy rating to a hold rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $91.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an outperform rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $84.71.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 0.9 %

NASDAQ:GILD opened at $66.76 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.19. Gilead Sciences has a twelve month low of $65.90 and a twelve month high of $87.86. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $71.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.04). Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 38.85% and a net margin of 20.89%. The company had revenue of $7.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.10 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.67 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.61%. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.44%.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total transaction of $145,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 96,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,026,339.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GILD. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Tompkins Financial Corp increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 223.1% in the 3rd quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 349 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.