Needham & Company LLC Reiterates Hold Rating for Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD)

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reissued by Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports.

GILD has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Leerink Partners raised Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Monday, October 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Gilead Sciences from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $78.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.85.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 1.6 %

NASDAQ GILD opened at $91.69 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $84.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.67. Gilead Sciences has a one year low of $62.07 and a one year high of $91.98. The company has a market capitalization of $114.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 111.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.14.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.40. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.34% and a net margin of 3.79%. The company had revenue of $6.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.64 billion. Equities analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences will post 3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 5,490 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $406,150.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 114,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,506,146.42. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 5,490 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.98, for a total transaction of $406,150.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 114,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,506,146.42. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total value of $167,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 100,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,398,843.87. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 36,847 shares of company stock valued at $3,033,340. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GILD. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,328,000. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,414,268 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $851,743,000 after purchasing an additional 93,068 shares in the last quarter. IRON Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the third quarter worth $830,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the first quarter valued at about $462,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 13.1% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 286,116 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $19,630,000 after buying an additional 33,162 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.