Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Given New $90.00 Price Target at Royal Bank of Canada

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) had its target price hoisted by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $84.00 to $90.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “sector perform” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 12.94% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.04.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

GILD stock traded up $7.24 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $103.38. 7,478,520 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,991,980. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $93.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $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. The stock has a market capitalization of $128.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,148.89, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.18.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. As a group, research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences will post 4.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 80,801 shares in the company, valued at $7,427,227.92. The trade was a 67.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 248,645 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 138,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,886,126.44. The trade was a 64.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 572,824 shares of company stock worth $53,611,715. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 400,819 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $33,645,000 after acquiring an additional 51,390 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,615 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $303,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences during the third quarter worth approximately $213,000. CX Institutional grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 34.2% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 60,987 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,113,000 after purchasing an additional 15,545 shares during the period. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.8% in the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 20,526 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,721,000 after buying an additional 364 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.