Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Piper Sandler Analyst Says

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) had its target price lifted by stock analysts at Piper Sandler from $105.00 to $110.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "overweight" rating on the biopharmaceutical company's stock. Piper Sandler's price objective indicates a potential upside of 5.69% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on GILD. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $101.33.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD traded down $1.88 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $104.08. The stock had a trading volume of 6,399,538 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,866,207. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.26. The company has a market cap of $129.71 billion, a PE ratio of 1,156.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.18. Gilead Sciences has a 12-month low of $62.07 and a 12-month high of $106.69. The company's 50 day moving average is $93.87 and its 200-day moving average is $87.62.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Gilead Sciences will post 4.35 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 248,645 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.76, for a total transaction of $23,064,310.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 138,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,886,126.44. This trade represents a 64.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total transaction of $15,094,275.12. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 80,801 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,427,227.92. The trade was a 67.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 710,500 shares of company stock valued at $67,684,956 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,171,691 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $5,044,795,000 after buying an additional 841,776 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 40,319,432 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,724,306,000 after buying an additional 7,157,113 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,659,007 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $3,293,822,000 after buying an additional 1,058,331 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,289,917 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,608,337,000 after buying an additional 749,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,789,254,000. 83.67% of the stock is 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.