Needham & Company LLC Reiterates Hold Rating for Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD)

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reissued by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports.

GILD has been the subject of several other research reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $116.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Gilead Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $125.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $132.00 to $125.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $110.55.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 0.9%

GILD opened at $106.74 on Wednesday. Gilead Sciences has a twelve month low of $62.07 and a twelve month high of $119.96. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $105.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $100.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 288.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.26.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.77 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $6.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.32) earnings per share. Analysts predict that Gilead Sciences will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.82, for a total transaction of $249,550.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 165,674 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,537,578.68. This represents a 1.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 22,929 shares of company stock worth $2,634,220. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of GILD. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 118.5% in the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 284 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2,837.5% in the 1st quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 235 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.