Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Upgraded at Royal Bank Of Canada

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on Gilead Sciences from $155.00 to $115.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $155.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings cut Gilead Sciences from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Gilead Sciences from $175.00 to $168.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Twenty-six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $156.93.

Gilead Sciences Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of GILD stock opened at $131.10 on Monday. Gilead Sciences has a 1 year low of $104.46 and a 1 year high of $157.29. The stock has a market cap of $162.77 billion, a PE ratio of 17.86 and a beta of 0.31. The business’s fifty day moving average is $135.10 and its 200-day moving average is $134.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.77 and a current ratio of 1.97.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.91 by $0.12. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 48.19% and a net margin of 30.99%.The company had revenue of $6.96 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.91 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.81 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2026 guidance at -1.050–0.650 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Gilead Sciences will post -0.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.27, for a total transaction of $396,810.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 173,191 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,907,973.57. This trade represents a 1.70% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Daniel Patrick O’day sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.16, for a total value of $1,291,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 632,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $81,702,353.72. This trade represents a 1.56% 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. Insiders sold a total of 53,000 shares of company stock valued at $7,075,670 in the last three months. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 121,097,336 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $14,863,487,000 after buying an additional 2,113,692 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,240,518 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,393,921,000 after buying an additional 1,151,213 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 27,698,660 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,399,734,000 after buying an additional 1,195,269 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 23,121,620 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,837,948,000 after buying an additional 3,046,688 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter worth $2,617,152,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

About Gilead Sciences

Gilead Sciences, Inc, founded in 1987 and headquartered in Foster City, California, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of medicines in areas of high unmet medical need. The company initially built its reputation in antiviral therapies and has since expanded into oncology, cell therapy and inflammatory diseases. Gilead operates a global research and commercial organization, conducting clinical development and selling medicines in markets around the world.

Gilead’s product portfolio is anchored by antiviral therapies for HIV and viral hepatitis.