Brokerages Set Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) PT at $105.12

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-nine ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $105.12.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GILD shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

GILD opened at $104.33 on Friday. Gilead Sciences has a 12-month low of $62.07 and a 12-month high of $119.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $109.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.77. The company has a market cap of $129.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 281.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.32.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. Research analysts predict that Gilead Sciences will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.79 dividend. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.03%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 854.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 142,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $97.22, for a total transaction of $13,822,739.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at $12,626,253.06. This trade represents a 52.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 302,785 shares of company stock valued at $30,540,875 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 40,319,432 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,724,306,000 after purchasing an additional 7,157,113 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,659,007 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,293,822,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,331 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,289,917 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,608,337,000 after buying an additional 749,047 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at $1,789,254,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,915,095 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,377,707,000 after acquiring an additional 2,458,954 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.