Wall Street Zen Downgrades Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) to Buy

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Saturday.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on GILD. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $147.00 to $151.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Friday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets set a $135.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.54.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 2.3%

GILD stock opened at $124.29 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $154.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 0.32. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $122.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $116.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.31. Gilead Sciences has a 12 month low of $88.57 and a 12 month high of $128.70.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.31. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 27.88% and a return on equity of 51.86%. The company had revenue of $7.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.42 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.02 earnings per share. Gilead Sciences’s quarterly revenue was up 3.0% on a year-over-year basis. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.050-8.250 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Gilead Sciences will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 28,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.86, for a total value of $3,524,080.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 107,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,491,310.98. This trade represents a 20.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Deborah H. Telman sold 53,646 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $122.85, for a total value of $6,590,411.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 43,676 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,365,596.60. This represents a 55.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 136,257 shares of company stock valued at $16,723,492 in the last 90 days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 119,364,226 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $13,233,912,000 after acquiring an additional 1,893,401 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.6% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 29,207,662 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,231,548,000 after purchasing an additional 727,515 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,150,268,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 12.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,139,681 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,680,505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,618,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 13,755,481 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,541,302,000 after purchasing an additional 1,520,809 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Company Profile

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.