Wells Fargo & Company Issues Positive Forecast for Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Stock Price

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) had its price objective upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $145.00 to $150.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Citigroup boosted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Dbs Bank raised Gilead Sciences to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.96.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 1.7%

GILD stock opened at $121.34 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $121.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $115.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.45. Gilead Sciences has a fifty-two week low of $88.57 and a fifty-two week high of $128.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.81, a PEG ratio of 0.66 and a beta of 0.32.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.31. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 27.88% and a return on equity of 51.86%. The company had revenue of $7.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.42 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.02 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.050-8.250 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences will post 7.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a $0.79 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio is currently 48.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Kelly A. Kramer sold 2,805 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.10, for a total transaction of $356,515.50. Following the sale, the director directly owned 1,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $170,186.90. This represents a 67.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $125.08, for a total value of $625,400.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 8,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,115,713.60. This represents a 35.92% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 135,757 shares of company stock valued at $16,616,127 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GILD. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,364,226 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $13,233,912,000 after acquiring an additional 1,893,401 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,207,662 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,231,548,000 after purchasing an additional 727,515 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,150,268,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 12.0% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,139,681 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,680,505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,618,453 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 314.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,703,103 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,647,484,000 after purchasing an additional 11,156,382 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.