Royal Bank of Canada Boosts Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Price Target to $75.00

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) had its price objective hoisted by Royal Bank of Canada from $74.00 to $75.00 in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Robert W. Baird reissued a neutral rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a neutral rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Piper Sandler reiterated an overweight rating and issued a $95.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a hold rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $82.12.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

GILD traded up $0.42 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $84.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,054,354 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,221,453. Gilead Sciences has a 12 month low of $62.07 and a 12 month high of $87.86. The stock has a market cap of $105.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 234.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.91 and a beta of 0.18. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $79.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.40. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.34% and a net margin of 3.79%. The firm had revenue of $6.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.64 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Gilead Sciences will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 13th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.64%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is currently 855.56%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total transaction of $2,459,529.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 78,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,545,480.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total transaction of $167,660.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 100,189 shares in the company, valued at $8,398,843.87. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total value of $2,459,529.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 78,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,545,480.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 36,847 shares of company stock valued at $3,033,340 in the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the 2nd quarter worth $25,328,000. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 0.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,414,268 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $851,743,000 after purchasing an additional 93,068 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 1st quarter worth about $462,000. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 751.1% in the 1st quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 127,258 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,322,000 after buying an additional 112,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 329,990 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,733,000 after buying an additional 31,849 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gilead Sciences Company Profile

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.