Royal Bank of Canada Boosts Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Price Target to $74.00

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) had its price objective boosted by Royal Bank of Canada from $72.00 to $74.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on GILD. Evercore ISI upgraded Gilead Sciences to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a neutral rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Friday, August 9th. Robert W. Baird reiterated a neutral rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Raymond James raised Gilead Sciences from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $93.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $82.06.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ GILD opened at $78.72 on Wednesday. Gilead Sciences has a 52 week low of $62.07 and a 52 week high of $87.86. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $74.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market cap of $98.07 billion, a PE ratio of 218.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.18.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.40. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.34% and a net margin of 3.79%. The firm had revenue of $6.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.64 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 13th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.91%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 855.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.63, for a total transaction of $137,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,614,559.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 5,490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.98, for a total transaction of $406,150.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 114,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,506,146.42. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $68.63, for a total transaction of $137,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,380 shares in the company, valued at $6,614,559.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 114,732,575 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,404,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,147 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.4% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 84,497,404 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,189,435,000 after buying an additional 1,133,281 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 2.7% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 61,246,366 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,486,296,000 after acquiring an additional 1,589,240 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Gilead Sciences by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,630,134 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,509,227,000 after acquiring an additional 2,350,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,301,624,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

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.