Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Hits New 52-Week Low at $65.61

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) shares hit a new 52-week low on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $65.61 and last traded at $65.83, with a volume of 1858080 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $67.08.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GILD. StockNews.com raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $74.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday. HSBC raised Gilead Sciences from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $69.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $83.87.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

The firm has a market cap 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $71.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.25.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.49) by $0.17. The company had revenue of $6.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.36 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 38.85%. Gilead Sciences’s revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.37 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.2 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.71%. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.44%.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences 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 value of $145,920.00. Following the sale, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GILD. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 83,364,123 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,753,350,000 after acquiring an additional 1,642,736 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 59,657,126 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,832,824,000 after purchasing an additional 1,743,418 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,630,134 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,509,227,000 after purchasing an additional 2,350,550 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 0.9% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,909,619 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,267,207,000 after purchasing an additional 158,794 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter valued at $1,301,624,000. 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.