Royal Bank Of Canada Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Stock

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) had its price objective upped by investment analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $123.00 to $126.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector perform” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price target suggests a potential downside of 13.50% from the company’s current price.

GILD has been the topic of a number of other reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Gilead Sciences from $150.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. HSBC boosted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 19th. Twenty-three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $159.26.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of GILD traded down $1.19 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $145.66. 297,593 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,811,401. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $180.61 billion, a PE ratio of -54.67 and a beta of 0.31. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $144.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.55. Gilead Sciences has a 52-week low of $114.02 and a 52-week high of $157.29.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($6.75) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($7.25) by $0.50. Gilead Sciences had a negative net margin of 10.64% and a negative return on equity of 2.11%. The firm had revenue of $7.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.01 EPS. Gilead Sciences’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences will post -0.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.29, for a total transaction of $435,870.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 164,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,841,507.84. The trade was a 1.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Daniel O’Day sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.64, for a total value of $2,229,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 577,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $85,785,049.12. The trade was a 2.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 105,000 shares of company stock worth $14,940,540 in the last ninety days. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GILD. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences during the 2nd quarter valued at about $15,393,785,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in Gilead Sciences by 2.3% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 61,216,552 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,734,099,000 after purchasing an additional 1,357,967 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,584,341 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,912,822,000 after acquiring an additional 444,660 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 10.7% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 10,539,111 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,468,836,000 after purchasing an additional 1,018,976 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Gilead Sciences during the second quarter valued at about $1,316,606,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

More Gilead Sciences News

Here are the key news stories impacting Gilead Sciences this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains strong. JPMorgan raised its target from $160 to $170 and maintained an “overweight” rating. Truist also increased its target from $150 to $158 and kept a “buy” rating. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed its “overweight” rating with a $155 target, while Morgan Stanley maintained “overweight” despite trimming its target from $165 to $163. The concentration of bullish ratings is likely supporting investor confidence in GILD.
• Positive Sentiment: Five-year Cognizant partnership could improve operations. Gilead signed a long-term DevOps agreement with Cognizant, combining life-sciences expertise with technology services to support the company’s processes. While financial details were not disclosed, the agreement may help Gilead improve efficiency and technology infrastructure. Gilead Sciences signs five-year DevOps agreement with Cognizant
• Positive Sentiment: Gilead’s collaboration with Nurix was extended. The two-year extension of research into E3 ligase-based protein degradation therapies suggests continued progress in an oncology program. The partnership could ultimately generate milestone payments and royalties, although the program remains subject to development and commercial risks. Extending the Gilead E3 Ligase Collaboration

About Gilead Sciences

Gilead Sciences, Inc (NASDAQ: GILD) is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and commercializes medicines for serious and life-threatening diseases. Its research and commercial activities focus primarily on virology, including HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, as well as oncology, inflammation and other areas of significant unmet medical need.

Gilead’s portfolio includes HIV treatments such as Biktarvy, Descovy, Genvoya and Sunlenca; hepatitis therapies including Epclusa, Harvoni and Vemlidy; and Veklury (remdesivir), an antiviral used to treat COVID-19 in certain patients.