Leerink Partners Increases Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Price Target to $146.00

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) had its target price increased by analysts at Leerink Partners from $114.00 to $146.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,MarketScreener reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Leerink Partners’ price objective would indicate a potential upside of 2.85% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Gilead Sciences from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $145.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 26th. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. They set a “sector outperform” rating and a $140.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $131.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $136.73.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of GILD opened at $141.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $125.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $119.67. Gilead Sciences has a twelve month low of $93.37 and a twelve month high of $142.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $176.11 billion, a PE ratio of 22.01, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.33.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.31. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 51.86% and a net margin of 27.88%.The business had revenue of $7.77 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.42 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.02 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, EVP Deborah H. Telman sold 53,646 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.85, for a total transaction of $6,590,411.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,365,596.60. This trade represents a 55.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.31, for a total value of $372,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 150,503 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,709,027.93. This trade represents a 1.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 257,397 shares of company stock worth $33,385,512. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 121,097,336 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $14,863,487,000 after purchasing an additional 2,113,692 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.6% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,207,662 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,231,548,000 after buying an additional 727,515 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the second quarter worth approximately $2,150,268,000. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 1,618,453 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its stake in Gilead Sciences by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 10,467,411 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,167,221,000 after acquiring an additional 1,614,355 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Gilead Sciences this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple sell‑side firms raised targets and reiterated bullish ratings (Wolfe Research to $155/outperform; TD Cowen to $145/buy), reinforcing buy-side momentum and implied upside from current levels. Read More. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Broader analyst upgrades/positive notes from Citi, Truist, BMO and UBS add to consensus bullishness, supporting demand and higher valuation multiples. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Clinical/regulatory wins for Trodelvy (added to NCCN guidelines; TNBC approval/win coverage) strengthen Gilead’s oncology growth story and revenue optionality beyond antivirals. Read More. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage pieces noting that GILD has outperformed the market and is attracting analyst attention can draw momentum and ETF/quant flows into the stock. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Notes on GILD’s presence in Nasdaq/healthcare ETF lineups and elevated investor attention increase volume and liquidity but are not clear directional catalysts by themselves. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: CEO Daniel Patrick O’Day sold 10,000 shares (~$1.4M) at ~$139.89 (filed on Form 4). While modest relative to his remaining holding and potentially routine, insider sales can be interpreted negatively by some investors. Read More.

Gilead Sciences Company Profile

Gilead Sciences, Inc, founded in 1987 and headquartered in Foster City, California, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of medicines in areas of high unmet medical need. The company initially built its reputation in antiviral therapies and has since expanded into oncology, cell therapy and inflammatory diseases. Gilead operates a global research and commercial organization, conducting clinical development and selling medicines in markets around the world.

Gilead’s product portfolio is anchored by antiviral therapies for HIV and viral hepatitis.