Gilead Sciences’ (GILD) “Overweight” Rating Reaffirmed at Cantor Fitzgerald

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating reiterated by research analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $155.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price objective points to a potential upside of 3.04% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on GILD. Wall Street Zen upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 19th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $165.00 to $163.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Twenty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $159.33.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 0.5%

Gilead Sciences stock traded down $0.74 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $150.43. 5,189,435 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,820,033. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -56.34 and a beta of 0.31. Gilead Sciences has a fifty-two week low of $114.02 and a fifty-two week high of $157.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $145.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $136.72.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($6.75) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($7.25) by $0.50. Gilead Sciences had a negative return on equity of 2.11% and a negative net margin of 10.64%. The firm had revenue of $7.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.01 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences will post -0.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gilead Sciences news, Director Anthony Welters sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $148.62, for a total transaction of $2,675,160.00. Following the sale, the director owned 12,894 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,916,306.28. This represents a 58.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.02, for a total transaction of $725,100.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 10,066 shares in the company, valued at $1,459,771.32. This trade represents a 33.19% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 105,000 shares of company stock valued at $14,940,540 over the last quarter. 0.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Aviva PLC increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 1,156,738 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $141,978,000 after buying an additional 59,782 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the 2nd quarter valued at about $100,056,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the 2nd quarter valued at about $55,754,000. Groupe la Francaise increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 30.9% in the 2nd quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 49,627 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,270,000 after buying an additional 11,712 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 292,295 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $36,929,000 after buying an additional 10,206 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Company Profile

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.