Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Upgraded at Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft

Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have $120.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $80.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on GILD. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Gilead Sciences in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Mizuho increased their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.08.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

GILD opened at $110.03 on Tuesday. Gilead Sciences has a 1 year low of $62.07 and a 1 year high of $110.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a current ratio of 1.50. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $137.13 billion, a PE ratio of 297.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.18.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 31.63%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Gilead Sciences will post 7.94 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.79 dividend. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 832.43%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total transaction of $620,355.32. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 8,920 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $815,198.80. This trade represents a 43.21 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.09, for a total transaction of $260,225.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 169,061 shares in the company, valued at $17,597,559.49. This trade represents a 1.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 713,000 shares of company stock valued at $67,945,181 in the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GILD. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 118.5% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 284 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares in the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 101.9% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

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.