Citigroup Begins Coverage on Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD)

Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) in a report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $125.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on GILD. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $83.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.86.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

GILD opened at $88.40 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $86.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $76.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market capitalization of $110.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 982.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.17. Gilead Sciences has a 1-year low of $62.07 and a 1-year high of $98.90.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. The company’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Gilead Sciences will post 4.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3,422.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total value of $2,459,529.46. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 78,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,545,480.06. This trade represents a 27.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total value of $2,341,485.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 99,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,113,308.50. This trade represents a 20.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 56,947 shares of company stock valued at $4,968,674 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 101.9% during the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 198.3% in the second quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 358 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 51.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. 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.