Royal Bank of Canada Increases Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Price Target to $81.00

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) had its target price lifted by stock analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $75.00 to $81.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “sector perform” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price points to a potential downside of 16.12% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on GILD. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $82.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $90.71.

Gilead Sciences Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock traded down $1.34 during trading on Thursday, reaching $96.57. The stock had a trading volume of 7,457,030 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,289,753. The company has a market capitalization of $120.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,072.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.17. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $85.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $75.03. Gilead Sciences has a 52 week low of $62.07 and a 52 week high of $98.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.44. The company had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 28.60% and a net margin of 0.45%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.29 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Gilead Sciences will post 3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total transaction of $2,459,529.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 78,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,545,480.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total transaction of $2,341,485.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 99,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,113,308.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $6,545,480.06. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 62,437 shares of company stock valued at $5,374,825 in the last 90 days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GILD. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 1st quarter worth approximately $462,000. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 31.8% in the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 112,743 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,258,000 after purchasing an additional 27,211 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences in the first quarter valued at approximately $573,000. AIA Group Ltd purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,684,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 51.2% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 154,992 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $11,353,000 after purchasing an additional 52,494 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.