Morgan Stanley Cuts Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Price Target to $150.00

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) had its price objective lowered by Morgan Stanley from $151.00 to $150.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

GILD has been the subject of a number of other research reports. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, January 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.16.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 2.3%

Gilead Sciences stock opened at $121.26 on Tuesday. Gilead Sciences has a 52-week low of $90.82 and a 52-week high of $128.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.31, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $150.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.80, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 0.33. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $123.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $117.92.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.31. The company had revenue of $7.77 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.42 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 51.86% and a net margin of 27.88%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.02 earnings per share. Gilead Sciences has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.050-8.250 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Gilead Sciences will post 7.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 30th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.6%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.99%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Daniel Patrick O’day sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.83, for a total transaction of $1,248,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 566,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $70,740,911.34. This trade represents a 1.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.08, for a total value of $625,400.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 8,920 shares in the company, valued at $1,115,713.60. This trade represents a 35.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 130,757 shares of company stock valued at $16,205,752 in the last ninety days. 0.27% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GILD. GoalVest Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 7,566.7% in the second quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 230 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 227 shares during the period. Corundum Trust Company INC acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Harbor Asset Planning Inc. acquired a new position in Gilead Sciences in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Howard Hughes Medical Institute purchased a new position in Gilead Sciences during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Putney Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Gilead Sciences by 53.4% during the 2nd quarter. Putney Financial Group LLC now owns 270 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

About Gilead Sciences

Gilead Sciences, Inc, founded in 1987 and headquartered in Foster City, California, is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of medicines in areas of high unmet medical need. The company initially built its reputation in antiviral therapies and has since expanded into oncology, cell therapy and inflammatory diseases. Gilead operates a global research and commercial organization, conducting clinical development and selling medicines in markets around the world.

Gilead’s product portfolio is anchored by antiviral therapies for HIV and viral hepatitis.