Morgan Stanley Upgrades Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) to “Overweight”

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) was upgraded by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The firm presently has a $113.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock, up from their prior target price of $87.00. Morgan Stanley’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 25.72% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on GILD. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Leerink Partners upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $74.00 to $96.00 in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Maxim Group cut shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Daiwa America raised shares of Gilead Sciences to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.96.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ GILD opened at $89.88 on Friday. Gilead Sciences has a one year low of $62.07 and a one year high of $98.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market cap of $112.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 998.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.18. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $91.94 and its 200-day moving average is $83.29.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.44. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The firm had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.29 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences will post 4.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total value of $2,341,485.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 99,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,113,308.50. This trade represents a 20.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 8,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.96, for a total value of $781,660.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 132,373 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,173,021.08. The trade was a 6.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 453,734 shares of company stock worth $41,902,086. Insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GILD. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 161 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 51.6% during the second quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares during the period. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 3rd quarter worth $50,000. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Gilead Sciences Company Profile

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.