Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Earns “Neutral” Rating from Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed their neutral rating on shares of Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $80.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

GILD has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price 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. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.43.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ:GILD opened at $91.86 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $89.96 and its 200-day moving average is $79.45. Gilead Sciences has a 1-year low of $62.07 and a 1-year high of $98.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market cap of $114.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,020.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.18.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.44. The firm had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3,422.22%.

Insider Activity at Gilead Sciences

In related news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 248,645 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.76, for a total transaction of $23,064,310.20. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 138,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,886,126.44. This trade represents a 64.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total transaction of $167,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 100,189 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,398,843.87. The trade was a 1.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 447,234 shares of company stock valued at $41,288,086 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Lantz Financial LLC grew its stake in Gilead Sciences by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 24,920 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,710,000 after purchasing an additional 840 shares during the period. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 1.2% during the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,857,987 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $127,476,000 after buying an additional 21,959 shares during the last quarter. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the second quarter worth about $63,000. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 3.5% in the second quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 7,845 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $538,000 after acquiring an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Outlook Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $334,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.