Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Reaches New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $81.00 to $75.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Gilead Sciences traded as low as $67.15 and last traded at $67.45, with a volume of 320010 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $67.31.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 12th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $101.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Truist Financial cut shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $91.00 to $82.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total transaction of $145,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,026,339.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,856 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the period. Nilsine Partners LLC boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 11,894 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $891,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Etesian Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 18,318 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,486,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Financial Counselors Inc. boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 8,862 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $718,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,607 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $292,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $82.37 billion, a PE ratio of 14.70, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $72.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.58.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.04). Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 38.85% and a net margin of 20.89%. The business had revenue of $7.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.67 EPS. Gilead Sciences’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.66%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 68.44%.

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.