Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD) – What Are Analysts Thinking About This Stock?

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty-nine research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty-three have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $171.07.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GILD. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $158.00 to $181.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. HSBC raised their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Argus set a $190.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Monday, November 2nd.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In related news, Director Anthony Welters sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.62, for a total value of $2,675,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 12,894 shares in the company, valued at $1,916,306.28. The trade was a 58.26% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.02, for a total value of $725,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 10,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,459,771.32. The trade was a 33.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 242,709 shares of company stock worth $39,503,427. Company insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GILD. Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Client 1ST Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,786 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Bfsg LLC raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 7.7% in the third quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 1,003 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $149,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 1.2% in the third quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 6,345 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $946,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 54.2% in the first quarter. Wilkerson Advisory Group LLC now owns 222 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Somerset Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.0% in the second quarter. Somerset Trust Co now owns 7,778 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $983,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Gilead Sciences

These are some of the GILD stories that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research raised several forecasts, including FY2027 EPS to $9.42 from $9.36 and FY2028 EPS to $9.69 from $9.66. It also made small upward adjustments to quarterly estimates. The revisions suggest slightly improved expectations, though the analyst’s Hold rating tempers the signal.
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage points to momentum in Gilead’s HIV franchise: Yeztugo sales are described as surging, Biktarvy remains a market leader, and the expanding pipeline could support longer-term growth. Read More..
• Neutral Sentiment: A broader pharmaceutical-stock article highlighted Gilead’s dividend and pipeline as defensive attributes, but offered no company-specific new financial or operating catalyst. Read More..

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

NASDAQ:GILD traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $168.08. The stock had a trading volume of 3,637,311 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,772,945. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $155.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $141.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 1.38 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Gilead Sciences has a one year low of $116.88 and a one year high of $176.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $208.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -53.19 and a beta of 0.35.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.36. Gilead Sciences had a negative net margin of 12.47% and a negative return on equity of 1.85%. The firm had revenue of $8.30 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.47 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences will post -0.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.82 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 15th. This represents a $3.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is -103.80%.

Gilead Sciences Company Profile

Gilead Sciences, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and commercializes medicines for serious diseases. Founded in 1987 and headquartered in Foster City, California, the company focuses on antiviral therapies, including treatments and preventive medicines for HIV and medicines for viral hepatitis. Its products include Biktarvy for HIV and Epclusa for hepatitis C. Gilead also develops medicines in areas such as oncology and inflammatory diseases. Its portfolio includes Veklury (remdesivir), an antiviral medicine used to treat COVID-19.