Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Rating Lowered to Buy at StockNews.com

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) was downgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on GILD. Truist Financial cut Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $91.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $101.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $84.71.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock traded up $0.60 on Friday, reaching $66.76. The company had a trading volume of 10,656,822 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,352,068. The firm has a market cap of $83.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.43 and a quick ratio of 1.27. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $71.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.53. Gilead Sciences has a 1 year low of $65.90 and a 1 year high of $87.86.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $7.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.10 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 38.85% and a net margin of 20.89%. Gilead Sciences’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.67 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Gilead Sciences will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.18, for a total value of $146,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 100,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,386,496.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. American National Bank & Trust Co. VA bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 1st quarter worth $578,000. FCG Investment Co raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 40.1% in the 1st quarter. FCG Investment Co now owns 9,465 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $693,000 after acquiring an additional 2,710 shares in the last quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 8.7% during the 1st quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 8,053 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $590,000 after buying an additional 644 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Capital Management LLC increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Hudson Capital Management LLC now owns 48,917 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,583,000 after buying an additional 2,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abundance Wealth Counselors increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Abundance Wealth Counselors now owns 26,673 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,954,000 after buying an additional 1,084 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by 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.