Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Stock Price Expected to Rise, BMO Capital Markets Analyst Says

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) had its price target raised by investment analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $110.00 to $115.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective would suggest a potential upside of 10.74% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 price target for the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.26.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of GILD traded up $7.71 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $103.85. 6,447,062 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,900,700. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $93.14 and a 200-day moving average of $87.12. Gilead Sciences has a 52 week low of $62.07 and a 52 week high of $104.71. The stock has a market cap of $129.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,153.86, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. On average, analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences will post 4.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total transaction of $15,094,275.12. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 80,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,427,227.92. This trade represents a 67.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total transaction of $228,375.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,863,898.55. The trade was a 1.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 572,824 shares of company stock valued at $53,611,715. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 1.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 60,171,691 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,044,795,000 after buying an additional 841,776 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 50.9% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,600,676 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,900,921,000 after purchasing an additional 11,665,593 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 79.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,162,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,780,329,000 after purchasing an additional 14,680,161 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 27,540,870 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,302,119,000 after purchasing an additional 574,421 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter worth $1,789,254,000. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.