Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Reaches New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $111.99 and last traded at $111.03, with a volume of 10491868 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $109.95.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on GILD. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Barclays boosted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted 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. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.08.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 1.4 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $139.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 302.68, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.18. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.49.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 854.05%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 8,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.96, for a total transaction of $781,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 132,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,173,021.08. This represents a 6.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 542,001 shares of company stock valued at $52,230,551 over the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GILD. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,171,691 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,044,795,000 after buying an additional 841,776 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 40,319,432 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,724,306,000 after acquiring an additional 7,157,113 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,659,007 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,293,822,000 after purchasing an additional 1,058,331 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,289,917 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,608,337,000 after purchasing an additional 749,047 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at $1,789,254,000. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

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.