Gilead Sciences’ (GILD) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Truist Financial

Truist Financial reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) in a report issued on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a $145.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $127.00.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on GILD. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Daiwa America raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Friday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $124.65.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 1.9%

NASDAQ:GILD opened at $122.05 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $151.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.34. Gilead Sciences has a one year low of $86.08 and a one year high of $124.61. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $111.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.32.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.31. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 50.99% and a net margin of 21.86%.The business had revenue of $7.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.050-8.250 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Gilead Sciences will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is presently 48.99%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $118.08, for a total transaction of $354,240.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 110,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,011,589.44. The trade was a 2.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Daniel Patrick O’day sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.39, for a total value of $1,193,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 581,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $69,389,826.17. The trade was a 1.69% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 71,500 shares of company stock valued at $8,336,040 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.9% in the second quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 4,539 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $503,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Hemington Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 9.3% in the third quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 998 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.1% in the third quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 7,932 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $880,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Archer Investment Corp increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.2% in the second quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 7,277 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $807,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 0.3% in the third quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 34,711 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,912,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. 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.