Scotiabank Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Stock

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) had its price target raised by analysts at Scotiabank from $140.00 to $177.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sector outperform” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Scotiabank’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 16.59% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $153.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $135.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Wall Street Zen cut Gilead Sciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $135.00 price target on Gilead Sciences and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Twenty-three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $152.42.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 2.6%

Shares of GILD stock opened at $151.81 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $188.35 billion, a PE ratio of 22.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.36. Gilead Sciences has a 1 year low of $93.37 and a 1 year high of $157.29. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $129.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $121.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.31.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.86 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.83 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $7.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.68 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 49.46% and a net margin of 28.90%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.90 EPS. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.450-8.850 EPS. Research analysts predict that Gilead Sciences will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gilead Sciences news, CEO Daniel Patrick O’day sold 115,640 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.00, for a total value of $15,611,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 566,698 shares in the company, valued at $76,504,230. This trade represents a 16.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.86, for a total transaction of $3,524,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 107,193 shares in the company, valued at $13,491,310.98. This represents a 20.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 319,391 shares of company stock valued at $44,141,101. 0.27% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 7,566.7% in the second quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 230 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Corundum Trust Company INC purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Ares Financial Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Financial Consulate Inc. grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 85.8% during the 4th quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. now owns 236 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Gilead Sciences

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat consensus — revenue and EPS topped estimates, driven by HIV and liver‑disease portfolio strength and early traction for new products; this underpins analyst bullishness and longer‑term revenue visibility. GILD’s Q4 Earnings Beat
• Positive Sentiment: Big wave of analyst price‑target increases and buy/outperform notes (examples: Morgan Stanley $171, Scotiabank $177, Needham/Wolfe $170, Wells Fargo & JPMorgan mid‑$160s) — brokers cite HIV momentum, margin expansion and product pipeline (Yeztugo, Yescarta) as reasons to raise targets. Analyst Coverage Summary
• Positive Sentiment: Dividend increase announced — quarterly dividend up to $0.82 (3.8% raise), supporting income investor appeal and signaling management confidence in cash flow.
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call / transcripts published (multiple outlets) — useful for detail on guidance assumptions, product rollouts and cost/margin outlook but neutral until investors parse management commentary. Earnings Call Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Yescarta label expansion and new product commentary appear in coverage — potential medium‑term upside if uptake meets expectations; currently a pipeline/progression read‑through. Yescarta & Dividend Coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest notes in data feeds show anomalous 0 shares / NaN changes — not meaningful evidence of a short squeeze or new bearish positioning based on available figures.
• Negative Sentiment: FY‑2026 guidance came in below some Street expectations — management’s outlook tempered the post‑earnings rally and is the principal reason for the intraday/extended‑session pullback despite the beat. Guidance / Shares Dip
• Negative Sentiment: At least one broker adjustment (Royal Bank of Canada) shows a lower relative price target in published feeds despite a PT raise vs. prior internal note — highlights disagreement among analysts on near‑term valuation and reinforces guidance‑driven uncertainty. RBC / Ticker Report

About Gilead Sciences

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.