Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Stock Price

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) had its price target lifted by Morgan Stanley from $163.00 to $183.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Morgan Stanley‘s price target points to a potential upside of 6.19% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC set a $175.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Friday. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 10th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Friday. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $168.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Twenty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $166.19.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of GILD stock traded up $6.72 on Friday, hitting $172.33. 5,712,259 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,788,732. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market cap of $213.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -64.52 and a beta of 0.31. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $150.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.55. Gilead Sciences has a 52 week low of $114.02 and a 52 week high of $175.65.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.36. The company had revenue of $8.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.81 billion. Gilead Sciences had a negative return on equity of 2.11% and a negative net margin of 10.64%. Gilead Sciences’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.47 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Gilead Sciences will post -0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.64, for a total transaction of $3,853,920.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 118,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,273,727.76. This trade represents a 19.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Andrew Dickinson sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $156.22, for a total transaction of $468,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 161,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,166,417.12. The trade was a 1.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 111,000 shares of company stock worth $15,877,860. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GILD. PFS Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 101.1% in the third quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 191 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, Toth Financial Advisory Corp grew its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 85.5% during the 3rd quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 217 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gilead Sciences News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q3 earnings beat expectations: Gilead reported adjusted earnings of $2.55 per share, above the $2.19 consensus, while revenue rose 6.8% year over year to $8.3 billion, exceeding estimates by approximately $500 million. Gilead Sciences quarterly earnings results
• Positive Sentiment: HIV franchise drives growth: Strong demand for Biktarvy and other HIV treatments helped produce the company’s best underlying growth in roughly a decade. Trodelvy sales increased 41.7% year over year to $506 million, while Livdelzi also contributed to growth. Gilead Q3 earnings and product sales
• Positive Sentiment: 2026 outlook raised: Gilead increased its full-year product-sales forecast to $31.0 billion-$31.3 billion from $30.1 billion-$30.4 billion, signaling continued confidence in its commercial performance. Gilead lifts sales guidance
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support strengthened: Needham raised its price target to $200, Wells Fargo to $190, and Truist to $181, with buy or overweight ratings. Gilead also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.82 per share.
• Neutral Sentiment: Pipeline and geographic expansion: A Canadian reimbursement agreement for Livdelzi could broaden access, and Gilead’s planned $1.275 billion acquisition of PepGen’s oral IL-23R program adds potential to its immunology pipeline. However, oncology and immunology remain less developed than HIV.
• Negative Sentiment: Future Biktarvy pricing risk: Medicare price controls are expected to reduce Biktarvy’s price by about 38% beginning in 2028, potentially cutting annual revenue by approximately $1.5 billion. Analysts also caution that some Q3 HIV growth reflected inventory and channel effects that may not persist. Biktarvy Medicare pricing risk

About Gilead Sciences

Gilead Sciences, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and commercializes medicines for serious and life-threatening diseases. The company is best known for its HIV treatments, including Biktarvy, Descovy, Genvoya and Truvada, as well as therapies for chronic hepatitis B and hepatitis C. Its portfolio also includes Veklury (remdesivir), an antiviral treatment for COVID-19.

Gilead has expanded into oncology and cell therapy through products such as Trodelvy and the CAR T-cell therapies Yescarta and Tecartus, which are developed and marketed through its Kite subsidiary.