Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Price Target Raised to $98.00

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada raised its target price for Gilead Sciences from $96.00 to $98.00, marking a potential downside of 17.90% from the company's current price.
• Multiple analysts have recently upgraded their ratings for Gilead Sciences, with Morgan Stanley increasing its price target to $135.00 and Needham & Company upgrading to a "buy" rating with a target of $133.00.
• Gilead Sciences reported better-than-expected earnings with $2.01 earnings per share, outperforming the consensus estimate of $1.96.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) had its price objective upped by Royal Bank Of Canada from $96.00 to $98.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a sector perform rating on the biopharmaceutical company's stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Truist Financial upgraded Gilead Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the company from $108.00 to $127.00 in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC upgraded Gilead Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $133.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, July 25th. UBS Group raised their price target on Gilead Sciences from $108.00 to $112.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Gilead Sciences from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Gilead Sciences in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $125.00 price target for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $114.82.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock traded up $0.56 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $120.58. 669,190 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,352,726. Gilead Sciences has a 1 year low of $72.89 and a 1 year high of $121.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. The business has a 50-day moving average of $111.37 and a 200-day moving average of $107.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $149.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.99, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 0.33.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.96 by $0.05. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 50.99% and a net margin of 21.86%. The company had revenue of $7.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.95 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.01 earnings per share. Gilead Sciences's quarterly revenue was up 1.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Gilead Sciences will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Gilead Sciences's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 5,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $109.74, for a total value of $548,700.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 8,920 shares of the company's stock, valued at $978,880.80. The trade was a 35.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 3,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $111.03, for a total value of $333,090.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 117,168 shares in the company, valued at $13,009,163.04. This represents a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 82,000 shares of company stock valued at $8,984,175 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 4,539 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $503,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Archer Investment Corp lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 7,277 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $807,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. EPG Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. EPG Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,627 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 3,285 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $364,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Putney Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 53.4% in the 2nd quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC now owns 270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.