Why Gilead Sciences Stock Is Jumping Today
Shares of Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: GILD) were jumping 6.7% higher as of 11:21 a.m. EST on Tuesday. The gain came after Morgan Stanley analyst Matthew Harrison upgraded the stock to overweight from equal weight. Harrison set a one-year price target for Gilead of $83, reflecting a premium of 31% above the closing price on Friday. In addition, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review Merck's (NYSE: MRK) appeal of a lower federal court's decision to overturn a $2.54 billion verdict against Gilead for infringing patients with its hepatitis C drugs Harvoni and Sovaldi.
The bigger catalyst for Gilead today was definitely Morgan Stanley's upgrade. It wasn't all that surprising that the Supreme Court opted not to take on Merck's case. But it was at least a little surprising that Matthew Harrison expects the biotech stock to soar to $83.
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Source Fool.com
