Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Upgraded by Citigroup to Strong-Buy Rating

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) was upgraded by equities researchers at Citigroup to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Eleven equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.86.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock traded down $2.90 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $89.21. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,055,159 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,068,160. The company has a market capitalization of $111.18 billion, a PE ratio of 1,007.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.17. The business has a fifty day moving average of $86.49 and a 200 day moving average of $75.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Gilead Sciences has a 1-year low of $62.07 and a 1-year high of $98.90.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences will post 4.39 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total value of $2,459,529.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 78,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,545,480.06. This trade represents a 27.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total transaction of $167,660.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 100,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,398,843.87. This represents a 1.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,947 shares of company stock valued at $4,968,674 over the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Avior Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,422 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $782,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 3,056 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $256,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 9,397 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $788,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 17,822 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,494,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FDx Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. now owns 5,365 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $450,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.