Cantor Fitzgerald Issues Positive Forecast for Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Stock Price

Key Points

• Cantor Fitzgerald raised its price target for Gilead Sciences from $129.00 to $135.00, indicating a potential upside of 14.49% from the previous close.
• Gilead's recent earnings report showed $2.01 EPS, exceeding consensus estimates and reflecting a 1.4% year-over-year revenue increase to $7.08 billion.
• Analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" for Gilead Sciences, with 21 buy ratings out of 28 assessments.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by research analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald from $129.00 to $135.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the biopharmaceutical company's stock. Cantor Fitzgerald's price target would suggest a potential upside of 14.49% from the company's previous close.

GILD has been the topic of a number of other reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Gilead Sciences from $98.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $108.00 to $127.00 in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Daiwa Capital Markets upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $128.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Finally, Daiwa America raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $118.08.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD traded down $0.33 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $117.92. The company had a trading volume of 304,788 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,063,016. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company has a fifty day moving average of $114.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $110.12. The company has a market cap of $146.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.51, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.34. Gilead Sciences has a 12-month low of $84.17 and a 12-month high of $121.83.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.96 by $0.05. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 50.99% and a net margin of 21.86%.The firm had revenue of $7.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $6.95 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.01 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2025 guidance at 7.950-8.250 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In related news, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.74, for a total transaction of $548,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 8,920 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $978,880.80. This represents a 35.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $118.53, for a total transaction of $3,318,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 114,168 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,532,333.04. This represents a 19.70% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 82,000 shares of company stock worth $9,402,130. 0.27% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. One Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 34.8% during the 2nd quarter. One Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,163 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,016,000 after acquiring an additional 2,364 shares in the last quarter. Ariel Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 7.7% during the first quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 430,424 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $48,229,000 after purchasing an additional 30,630 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 14.5% during the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 863 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Covea Finance lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 69.5% in the 2nd quarter. Covea Finance now owns 51,700 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $5,732,000 after purchasing an additional 21,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,118,632 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $237,393,000 after purchasing an additional 16,663 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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