Morgan Stanley Cuts Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Price Target to $78.00

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) had its price target dropped by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $78.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "equal weight" rating on the biopharmaceutical company's stock. Morgan Stanley's price target would indicate a potential upside of 19.23% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. StockNews.com lowered Gilead Sciences from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 4th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered Gilead Sciences from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $91.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $83.87.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ GILD traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $65.42. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,349,126 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,477,028. Gilead Sciences has a 52 week low of $64.63 and a 52 week high of $87.86. The company has a market capitalization of $81.45 billion, a PE ratio of 14.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $71.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.25.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.49) by $0.17. The company had revenue of $6.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.36 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 38.85% and a net margin of 20.89%. Gilead Sciences's quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences will post 4.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total value of $145,920.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 96,304 shares in the company, valued at $7,026,339.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the first quarter valued at about $517,000. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 54.7% during the first quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 20,509 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,502,000 after buying an additional 7,249 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.7% during the first quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 11,539 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $845,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.2% during the first quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 42,121 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $3,085,000 after buying an additional 1,314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.3% during the first quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 74,638 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $5,467,000 after buying an additional 957 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.