Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on GILD. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $74.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $83.87.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock opened at $65.42 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.25. The company has a market cap of $81.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.54, a PEG ratio of 1.20 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. Gilead Sciences has a 1 year low of $64.63 and a 1 year high of $87.86.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.49) by $0.17. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 38.85%. The business had revenue of $6.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.37 earnings per share. Gilead Sciences’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Gilead Sciences will post 4.2 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total transaction of $145,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,026,339.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 83,364,123 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,753,350,000 after purchasing an additional 1,642,736 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 59,657,126 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,832,824,000 after purchasing an additional 1,743,418 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,630,134 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,509,227,000 after buying an additional 2,350,550 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,909,619 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,267,207,000 after buying an additional 158,794 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter worth about $1,301,624,000. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.