Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Reaches New 52-Week Low at $67.15

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $67.15 and last traded at $67.45, with a volume of 320010 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $67.31.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on GILD. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $101.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Truist Financial cut Gilead Sciences from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $91.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $85.36.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.43. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $72.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.33 billion, a PE ratio of 14.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.19.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.04). Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 38.85% and a net margin of 20.89%. The business had revenue of $7.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.10 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.67 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.06 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.60%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Gilead Sciences's payout ratio is presently 68.44%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total transaction of $145,920.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 96,304 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,026,339.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,301,624,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 324.8% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 18,002,214 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,070,232,000 after purchasing an additional 13,764,169 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 96,759.8% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,111,194 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $868,046,000 after purchasing an additional 10,100,755 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 70.6% in the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 15,492,116 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $921,006,000 after purchasing an additional 6,410,047 shares during the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 78.8% in the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 7,632,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $618,268,000 after purchasing an additional 3,362,505 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company's stock.

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.