Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Citigroup

Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) in a report issued on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a buy rating and a $125.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Leerink Partners raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $74.00 to $96.00 in a report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.86.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of GILD traded down $3.71 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $88.40. 11,352,699 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,083,877. The stock has a market capitalization of $110.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,007.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Gilead Sciences has a 12-month low of $62.07 and a 12-month high of $98.90. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $86.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $75.81.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.44. The firm had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences will post 4.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.48%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3,422.22%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total transaction of $167,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 100,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,398,843.87. This trade represents a 1.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 78,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,545,480.06. The trade was a 27.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,947 shares of company stock valued at $4,968,674 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,328,000. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,414,268 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $851,743,000 after buying an additional 93,068 shares in the last quarter. IRON Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $830,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 13.1% during the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 286,116 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $19,630,000 after buying an additional 33,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 127.6% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 213,901 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $15,668,000 after buying an additional 119,909 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.