Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Upgraded by Morgan Stanley to Overweight Rating

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note published on Friday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $113.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $87.00.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group raised their price target on Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Wolfe Research started coverage on Gilead Sciences in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.96.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Gilead Sciences stock opened at $89.88 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $112.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 998.67, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.18. Gilead Sciences has a one year low of $62.07 and a one year high of $98.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $91.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.19.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.44. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. The business had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3,422.22%.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 248,645 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.76, for a total transaction of $23,064,310.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 138,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,886,126.44. This represents a 64.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total value of $620,355.32. Following the transaction, the director now owns 8,920 shares in the company, valued at approximately $815,198.80. This represents a 43.21 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 453,734 shares of company stock worth $41,902,086. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 161 shares during the period. Cedar Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Gilead Sciences by 51.6% in the second quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the second quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by 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.