Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Upgraded to “Buy” at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) was upgraded by analysts at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $120.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $80.00. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 11.47% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on GILD. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $110.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $74.00 to $96.00 in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.08.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:GILD opened at $107.65 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $94.70 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $88.23. Gilead Sciences has a one year low of $62.07 and a one year high of $107.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $134.16 billion, a PE ratio of 290.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.18.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences will post 7.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 248,645 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.76, for a total transaction of $23,064,310.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 138,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,886,126.44. This represents a 64.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total transaction of $620,355.32. Following the sale, the director now owns 8,920 shares in the company, valued at $815,198.80. The trade was a 43.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 713,000 shares of company stock worth $67,945,181. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at $1,789,254,000. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 79.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,162,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,780,329,000 after buying an additional 14,680,161 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 50.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,600,676 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,900,921,000 after acquiring an additional 11,665,593 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 723.3% in the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,434,665 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $594,370,000 after acquiring an additional 5,653,075 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Gilead Sciences by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,915,095 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,377,707,000 after acquiring an additional 2,458,954 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently 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.