Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Sets New 52-Week Low on Analyst Downgrade

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $81.00 to $75.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Gilead Sciences traded as low as $67.15 and last traded at $67.45, with a volume of 320010 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.31.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on GILD. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 12th. Truist Financial cut Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $91.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Barclays dropped their price objective 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. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $84.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,026,339.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 7.0% during the 4th quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,856 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 11,894 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $891,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 18,318 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,486,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 8,862 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $718,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,607 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $72.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.58. The stock has a market cap of $82.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 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.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.04). Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 38.85%. The company had revenue of $7.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.67 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $0.77 per share. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.66%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.44%.

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.