Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Rating Increased to Hold at HSBC

HSBC upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Free Report) from a reduce rating to a hold rating in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. HSBC currently has $69.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company's stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on GILD. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a buy rating to a hold rating and reduced their target price for the company from $91.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $75.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Gilead Sciences from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, April 19th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 12th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $84.57.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

GILD traded up $0.05 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $67.08. 8,464,533 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,317,518. The company has a market capitalization of $83.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.89, a PEG ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $71.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.46. Gilead Sciences has a fifty-two week low of $65.90 and a fifty-two week high of $87.86.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.04). Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 38.85%. The business had revenue of $7.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.67 earnings per share. Gilead Sciences's revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Gilead Sciences will post 6.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.59%. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Gilead Sciences's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.44%.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total value of $145,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,304 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,026,339.84. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tompkins Financial Corp increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 223.1% during the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 349 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. 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.