Cantor Fitzgerald Reaffirms Overweight Rating for Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD)

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $155.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 5.23% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on GILD. Weiss Ratings upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $165.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 19th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Gilead Sciences from $150.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Twenty-three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $159.26.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

GILD stock traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $147.29. 2,486,747 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,822,519. The company has a current ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $182.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -55.16 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $144.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $136.55. Gilead Sciences has a 12 month low of $114.02 and a 12 month high of $157.29.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($6.75) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($7.25) by $0.50. The firm had revenue of $7.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.40 billion. Gilead Sciences had a negative return on equity of 2.11% and a negative net margin of 10.64%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.01 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences will post -0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Daniel O’Day sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.90, for a total value of $2,218,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 566,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $83,812,415.70. This trade represents a 2.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.29, for a total transaction of $435,870.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 164,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,841,507.84. The trade was a 1.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 105,000 shares of company stock worth $14,940,540 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 60.0% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC now owns 216 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wiser Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the second quarter worth about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Key Gilead Sciences News

Here are the key news stories impacting Gilead Sciences this week:

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target from $160 to $170 and reaffirmed an “overweight” rating, implying meaningful upside and reflecting confidence in Gilead’s earnings and growth outlook.
• Positive Sentiment: Truist increased its target from $150 to $158 and maintained a “buy” rating, while Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed “overweight” with a $155 target. Together, these calls support investor confidence in the stock’s potential.
• Positive Sentiment: Gilead signed a five-year DevOps agreement with Cognizant. The partnership is intended to improve technology infrastructure and business processes by combining Cognizant’s technical capabilities with life-sciences expertise, potentially supporting operational efficiency. Gilead Sciences signs five-year DevOps agreement with Cognizant
• Positive Sentiment: Nurix Therapeutics extended the research term of its Gilead collaboration by two years for an oncology program. The extension indicates continued progress in Gilead’s protein-degradation research pipeline and preserves potential future development opportunities.
• Neutral Sentiment: Morgan Stanley lowered its target modestly from $165 to $163 but retained an “overweight” rating, signaling continued confidence despite slightly reduced expectations.
• Neutral Sentiment: Gilead shares were reported higher in after-hours European trading, but the move does not identify a specific fundamental catalyst and may have limited relevance for U.S. investors.
• Negative Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada raised its target from $123 to $126 but kept a “sector perform” rating. The new target remains below Gilead’s recent trading level, highlighting valuation concerns and potential downside. Gilead Sciences analyst coverage from Royal Bank of Canada
• Negative Sentiment: A recent analysis argued that Gilead’s growth comes at a high price, with discounted-cash-flow assumptions pointing to valuation risk. This could weigh on sentiment despite the more optimistic analyst targets. Gilead: Buying Growth Isn’t Free, And The Discounted Cash Flow Model Knows It

About Gilead Sciences

Gilead Sciences, Inc (NASDAQ: GILD) is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and commercializes medicines for serious and life-threatening diseases. Its research and commercial activities focus primarily on virology, including HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, as well as oncology, inflammation and other areas of significant unmet medical need.

Gilead’s portfolio includes HIV treatments such as Biktarvy, Descovy, Genvoya and Sunlenca; hepatitis therapies including Epclusa, Harvoni and Vemlidy; and Veklury (remdesivir), an antiviral used to treat COVID-19 in certain patients.