Wolfe Research Initiates Coverage on Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD)

Equities research analysts at Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) in a research note issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Wolfe Research’s target price indicates a potential upside of 24.43% from the company’s current price.

Several other analysts have also commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Gilead Sciences from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price for the company. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $74.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Maxim Group downgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $93.86.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ GILD opened at $88.40 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $86.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $76.04. The stock has a market cap of $110.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 982.22, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Gilead Sciences has a 12 month low of $62.07 and a 12 month high of $98.90.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 78,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,545,480.06. This trade represents a 27.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total transaction of $2,341,485.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 99,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,113,308.50. The trade was a 20.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,947 shares of company stock valued at $4,968,674 in the last ninety days. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. CarsonAllaria Wealth Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 198.3% during the 2nd 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 acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the third quarter worth $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 101.9% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the period. Cedar Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 51.6% in the second quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.