Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Shares Up 1.4%

Shares of Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) were up 1.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $68.70 and last traded at $68.70. Approximately 648,962 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 7,474,623 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.76.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GILD has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 27th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Friday, April 26th. Raymond James upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $93.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Gilead Sciences currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.00.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 194.36, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.08.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.32) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.49) by $0.17. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 24.34%. The firm had revenue of $6.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.36 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.37 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences, Inc. will post 3.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is presently 855.56%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.63, for a total transaction of $137,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,380 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,614,559.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 114,732,575 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,404,161,000 after buying an additional 2,910,147 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in Gilead Sciences by 1.4% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 84,497,404 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,189,435,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133,281 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.7% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 61,246,366 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,486,296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,589,240 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,350,550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,301,624,000. 83.67% of the stock is currently 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.