BMO Capital Markets Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Stock

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) had its target price raised by BMO Capital Markets from $110.00 to $115.00 in a report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Daiwa America upgraded Gilead Sciences to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Leerink Partners raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $74.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.33.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

GILD stock opened at $103.31 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $128.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,147.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $93.14 and its 200 day moving average is $87.12. Gilead Sciences has a 52 week low of $62.07 and a 52 week high of $104.71. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. Research analysts predict that Gilead Sciences will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.06%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3,422.22%.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 80,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,427,227.92. The trade was a 67.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 248,645 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 138,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,886,126.44. This represents a 64.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 572,824 shares of company stock worth $53,611,715 over the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences during the third quarter valued at $25,000. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 118.5% in the fourth quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 284 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 101.9% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Institutional investors 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.