Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Downgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Friday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on GILD. Mizuho lowered their price target on Gilead Sciences from $101.00 to $90.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. Barclays lowered their price target on Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Oppenheimer restated an outperform rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $84.71.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

NASDAQ:GILD opened at $66.76 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 0.19. Gilead Sciences has a 52-week low of $65.90 and a 52-week high of $87.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $71.96 and a 200 day moving average of $76.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 1.43.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.76 by ($0.04). Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 38.85%. The business had revenue of $7.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.67 EPS. Gilead Sciences’s quarterly revenue was down 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is an increase from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is currently 68.44%.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.18, for a total transaction of $146,360.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 100,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,386,496.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GILD. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,642,736 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,743,418 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 2,350,550 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 324.8% during the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 18,002,214 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,070,232,000 after acquiring an additional 13,764,169 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 17,196,950 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,476,358,000 after acquiring an additional 1,780,489 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is owned by 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.