Bank of America Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Stock

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) had its price objective boosted by equities research analysts at Bank of America from $116.00 to $126.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Bank of America‘s target price points to a potential upside of 8.58% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Citigroup began coverage on Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price target on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $80.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $104.24.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 0.5 %

GILD opened at $116.04 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $99.15 and a 200 day moving average of $91.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. Gilead Sciences has a 12 month low of $62.07 and a 12 month high of $117.39. The firm has a market cap of $144.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 313.62, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.21.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 31.63% and a net margin of 1.67%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Gilead Sciences will post 7.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 8,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.96, for a total transaction of $781,660.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 132,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,173,021.08. This represents a 6.03 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 293,356 shares of company stock worth $29,166,240 over the last quarter. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fluent Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,693,000. BridgePort Financial Solutions LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $357,000. Total Wealth Planning & Management Inc. purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at $496,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $104,402,000. Finally, Talaria Asset Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at $13,643,000. 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.