Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) Stock Price Target Cut by Morgan Stanley

Posted by Brenda Bartman on Oct 7th, 2026

Gilead Sciences logo Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD – Get Free Report) had its target price dropped by analysts at Morgan Stanley from $165.00 to $163.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price indicates a potential upside of 10.48% from the company’s current price.

GILD has been the topic of several other reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, September 19th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Weiss Ratings raised Gilead Sciences from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Zacks Research lowered Gilead Sciences from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 29th. Finally, HSBC boosted their target price on Gilead Sciences from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 10th. Twenty-three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.70.

View Our Latest Research Report on GILD

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 2.3%

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock traded up $3.31 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $147.54. 794,226 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,822,083. The firm has a market capitalization of $182.94 billion, a P/E ratio of -55.32 and a beta of 0.31. Gilead Sciences has a 1-year low of $114.02 and a 1-year high of $157.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $144.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $136.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($6.75) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($7.25) by $0.50. Gilead Sciences had a negative net margin of 10.64% and a negative return on equity of 2.11%. The business had revenue of $7.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.40 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.01 EPS. Gilead Sciences’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Gilead Sciences will post -0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.22, for a total value of $432,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 116,684 shares in the company, valued at $16,828,166.48. This trade represents a 2.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Anthony Welters sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $148.62, for a total value of $2,675,160.00. Following the sale, the director owned 12,894 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,916,306.28. This represents a 58.26% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 105,000 shares of company stock valued at $14,940,540 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aviva PLC boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 1,156,738 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $141,978,000 after acquiring an additional 59,782 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the second quarter valued at $100,056,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the second quarter valued at about $55,754,000. Groupe la Francaise increased its position in Gilead Sciences by 30.9% in the 2nd quarter. Groupe la Francaise now owns 49,627 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,270,000 after buying an additional 11,712 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Gilead Sciences by 3.6% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 292,295 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $36,929,000 after acquiring an additional 10,206 shares during the period. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Gilead Sciences Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Gilead Sciences, Inc (NASDAQ: GILD) is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and commercializes medicines for serious and life-threatening diseases. Its research and commercial activities focus primarily on virology, including HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C, as well as oncology, inflammation and other areas of significant unmet medical need.

Gilead’s portfolio includes HIV treatments such as Biktarvy, Descovy, Genvoya and Sunlenca; hepatitis therapies including Epclusa, Harvoni and Vemlidy; and Veklury (remdesivir), an antiviral used to treat COVID-19 in certain patients.