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

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) had its price objective cut by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $80.00 to $78.00 in a research note issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price suggests a potential upside of 19.23% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on GILD. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Friday. UBS Group decreased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on 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. Truist Financial lowered Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $91.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $74.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.87.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Gilead Sciences stock opened at $65.42 on Friday. Gilead Sciences has a 12 month low of $64.63 and a 12 month high of $87.86. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $71.28 and its 200-day moving average is $76.25. 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 has a market capitalization of $81.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 181.72, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.19.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.49) by $0.17. The business had revenue of $6.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.36 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 23.08% and a net margin of 1.76%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences will post 4.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total transaction of $145,920.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,026,339.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Conning Inc. lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 19.9% during the 1st quarter. Conning Inc. now owns 515,741 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $37,704,000 after buying an additional 85,645 shares during the period. Harrington Investments INC lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. Harrington Investments INC now owns 21,867 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,602,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares during the period. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Advisors Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 33,805 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,476,000 after buying an additional 725 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences during the 1st quarter worth about $517,000. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 54.7% during the 1st quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 20,509 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,502,000 after buying an additional 7,249 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.