Cantor Fitzgerald Issues Positive Forecast for Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Stock Price

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) had its target price raised by Cantor Fitzgerald from $70.00 to $80.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

GILD has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $90.71.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

GILD traded down $1.33 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $96.57. 7,371,343 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,048,486. The stock has a market cap of $120.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 118.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.17. Gilead Sciences has a 12 month low of $62.07 and a 12 month high of $98.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $84.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.67.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 3.79% and a return on equity of 29.34%. The business had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.01 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 375.61%.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 5,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.98, for a total transaction of $406,150.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 114,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,506,146.42. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total transaction of $2,341,485.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 99,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,113,308.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 5,490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.98, for a total value of $406,150.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 114,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,506,146.42. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 62,437 shares of company stock worth $5,374,825. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GILD. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Gilead Sciences by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 114,732,575 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,404,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,147 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 84,497,404 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,189,435,000 after buying an additional 1,133,281 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.7% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 61,246,366 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,486,296,000 after acquiring an additional 1,589,240 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 0.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,414,268 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $851,743,000 after acquiring an additional 93,068 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,412,413 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $714,421,000 after acquiring an additional 268,208 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.