Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Earns “Hold” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. DZ Bank raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued 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 a consensus price target of $109.43.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of GILD stock opened at $103.17 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $109.21 and its 200 day moving average is $98.24. Gilead Sciences has a 1-year low of $62.07 and a 1-year high of $119.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.20. The company has a market cap of $128.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 278.84, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.32.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by $0.08. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 1.67% and a return on equity of 31.63%. The firm had revenue of $6.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.32) EPS. Research analysts predict that Gilead Sciences will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 137,676 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.22, for a total value of $14,073,240.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 171,223 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,502,415.06. The trade was a 44.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 302,785 shares of company stock valued at $30,540,875. Corporate insiders own 0.27% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 7,157,113 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Gilead Sciences by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 35,659,007 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,293,822,000 after acquiring an additional 1,058,331 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 28,289,917 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,608,337,000 after acquiring an additional 749,047 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth $1,789,254,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 14,915,095 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,377,707,000 after purchasing an additional 2,458,954 shares during the period. 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.