Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Price Target Raised to $96.00 at UBS Group

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) had its price objective hoisted by UBS Group from $70.00 to $96.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on GILD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Gilead Sciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.41.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of GILD stock opened at $89.84 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $87.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $111.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 998.22, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.17. Gilead Sciences has a twelve month low of $62.07 and a twelve month high of $98.90.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. The firm had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The company’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Gilead Sciences will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 3,422.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total value of $2,459,529.46. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 78,127 shares in the company, valued at $6,545,480.06. This represents a 27.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 100,189 shares in the company, valued at $8,398,843.87. This represents a 1.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,947 shares of company stock worth $4,968,674 over the last three months. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 5.4% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,482 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $711,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the period. Tri Ri Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,163,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.5% in the third quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 27,443 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after acquiring an additional 917 shares during the period. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.6% during the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 9,626 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $807,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares during the period. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 10.6% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 57,509 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,822,000 after purchasing an additional 5,497 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.