Maxim Group Lowers Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Price Target to $85.00

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) had its target price lowered by Maxim Group from $90.00 to $85.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on GILD. Needham & Company LLC restated a hold rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $78.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 26th. HSBC upgraded Gilead Sciences from a reduce rating to a hold rating and set a $69.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 4th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $83.69.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Shares of GILD opened at $64.78 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.98. Gilead Sciences has a fifty-two week low of $64.33 and a fifty-two week high of $87.86. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.83. The company has a market capitalization of $80.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 179.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.22.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.32) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.49) by $0.17. The company had revenue of $6.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.36 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 24.34% and a net margin of 1.76%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 855.56%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total value of $145,920.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,026,339.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 83,364,123 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,753,350,000 after acquiring an additional 1,642,736 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Gilead Sciences by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 59,657,126 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,832,824,000 after purchasing an additional 1,743,418 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Gilead Sciences by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,630,134 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,509,227,000 after buying an additional 2,350,550 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 16,909,619 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,267,207,000 after buying an additional 158,794 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,301,624,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

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.