Cantor Fitzgerald Affirms Neutral Rating for Gilead Sciences

On Wednesday, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated its neutral rating on shares of Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD). The firm has set a price objective of $80.00 for the biopharmaceutical company's stock, as reported by Benzinga.

In addition to Cantor Fitzgerald, several other equity research analysts have also shared their insights on Gilead Sciences. Daiwa America recently upgraded Gilead Sciences to a "hold" rating in a report published on November 18. Meanwhile, Wells Fargo & Company has raised its price target for Gilead from $100.00 to $105.00 and assigned an "overweight" rating in a research note released on November 7. On the same day, The Goldman Sachs Group increased its price objective from $74.00 to $84.00 and maintained a "neutral" rating for the stock. Citigroup began coverage of Gilead Sciences with a "buy" rating and set a price target of $125.00. Lastly, Bank of America reaffirmed a "buy" rating with a price target of $109.00 in a report issued on November 18. Currently, 12 research analysts have assigned a hold rating, while 12 have given a buy rating, and four have indicated a strong buy rating. Data from MarketBeat.com reveals that Gilead Sciences holds a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $96.43.

Current Stock Performance

On Wednesday, GILD shares opened at $91.86. The company’s fifty-day moving average price is $89.96, while the two-hundred-day moving average is $79.45. Gilead Sciences 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 experienced a one-year low of $62.07 and a one-year high of $98.90, with a market capitalization of $114.48 billion. The P/E ratio stands at 1,020.61 and the PEG ratio is 2.38, along with a beta of 0.18.

Recent Earnings Disclosure

Gilead Sciences published its latest earnings results on November 6. The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $2.02 for the quarter, exceeding the analysts' consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.44. Gilead Sciences showed a return on equity of 29.00% with a net margin of 0.45%. The revenue for the quarter reached $7.55 billion, compared to the expected $7.01 billion. This represents a 7.0% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year, although earnings per share declined from $2.29 in the same quarter the previous year. Analysts predict that Gilead Sciences will report an EPS of 4.35 for the current fiscal year.

Dividend Announcement

The firm recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.77, which will be distributed on December 30. Shareholders who are on record as of December 13 will receive this dividend, with the ex-dividend date also set for December 13. This equates to an annualized dividend of $3.08, providing a yield of 3.35%. Gilead Sciences has a notably high dividend payout ratio of 3,422.22%.

Insider Trading Activities

In recent news regarding insider transactions, Chief Financial Officer Andrew D. Dickinson sold 248,645 shares of Gilead's stock on November 29, at an average price of $92.76. This sale totaled approximately $23.06 million, and the CFO's direct ownership has now decreased to 138,919 shares, valued at around $12.89 million. Additionally, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares on November 26 at an average price of $91.39, resulting in a total transaction of about $620,355.32. After this sale, he retains ownership of 8,920 shares, valued at approximately $815,199. Over the past three months, insiders have sold 447,234 shares valued at about $41.29 million. Currently, corporate insiders hold approximately 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investment Overview

Many institutional investors have recently adjusted their holdings in Gilead Sciences. State Street Corp raised its stake by 1.4% during the third quarter and now owns 60,171,691 shares worth around $5.04 billion, after acquiring an additional 841,776 shares. Similarly, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings by 50.9%, now owning 34,600,676 shares valued at approximately $2.90 billion. FMR LLC also increased its stake significantly by 79.4%, now possessing 33,162,319 shares worth $2.78 billion after purchasing 14,680,161 additional shares. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position by 2.1%, now owning 27,540,870 shares valued at approximately $2.30 billion. Legal & General Group plc added to its holdings by 0.8%, having acquired 93,068 shares recently, bringing its total to 12,414,268 shares valued at around $851.74 million. In total, institutional investors and hedge funds currently own approximately 83.67% of Gilead Sciences.Gilead, Rating, Stocks