Royal Bank of Canada Issues Positive Forecast for Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Stock Price

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) had its target price increased by Royal Bank of Canada from $81.00 to $84.00 in a research note released on Monday,Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on GILD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup assumed coverage on Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, November 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.00.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of GILD stock opened at $88.46 on Monday. Gilead Sciences has a 52-week low of $62.07 and a 52-week high of $98.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 982.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.17. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $86.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $76.27.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. The company had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. Gilead Sciences’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.29 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Gilead Sciences will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is presently 3,422.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the insider now owns 78,127 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,545,480.06. The trade was a 27.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total value of $167,660.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 100,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,398,843.87. The trade was a 1.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,947 shares of company stock worth $4,968,674. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 198.3% in the second quarter. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. now owns 358 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 101.9% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 51.6% in the second quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the second quarter worth about $33,000. 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.