Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Hits New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $99.37 and last traded at $99.24, with a volume of 1879395 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $97.20.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $109.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $98.39.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $92.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.32. The company has a market capitalization of $124.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,107.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.18. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.44. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The firm had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. Gilead Sciences’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 4.34 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 248,645 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.76, for a total value of $23,064,310.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 138,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,886,126.44. This represents a 64.16 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was 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 owns 80,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,427,227.92. This trade represents a 67.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 572,824 shares of company stock valued at $53,611,715 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 79.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 33,162,319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,780,329,000 after buying an additional 14,680,161 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 50.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 34,600,676 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,900,921,000 after acquiring an additional 11,665,593 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 723.3% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 6,434,665 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $594,370,000 after purchasing an additional 5,653,075 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 350.1% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,305,270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $193,274,000 after acquiring an additional 1,793,145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 8,238.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,642,504 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $137,708,000 after buying an additional 1,622,806 shares in the last quarter. 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.