Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) saw a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 25,660,000 shares, an increase of 16.7% from the December 15th total of 21,980,000 shares. Approximately 2.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 6,460,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock traded up $0.19 on Friday, reaching $91.84. 6,852,085 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,370,915. Gilead Sciences has a fifty-two week low of $62.07 and a fifty-two week high of $98.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $114.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,020.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.18. The company 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 a fifty day moving average price of $91.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.08.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. The firm had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.01 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.29 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Gilead Sciences will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is 3,422.22%.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 2,500 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.35, for a total value of $228,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,863,898.55. The trade was a 1.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total transaction of $2,341,485.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 99,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,113,308.50. This trade represents a 20.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 456,234 shares of company stock worth $42,130,461. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Gilead Sciences by 101.9% during the 3rd quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 51.6% in the second quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. 83.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GILD has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $84.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $87.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $74.00 to $96.00 in a report on Monday, October 21st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $97.96.

Gilead Sciences Company Profile

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.