Short Interest in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Declines By 8.9%

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 22,930,000 shares, a decrease of 8.9% from the January 15th total of 25,170,000 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 7,150,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $70.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. DZ Bank upgraded Gilead Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $109.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.33.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 248,645 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.76, for a total transaction of $23,064,310.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 138,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,886,126.44. This represents a 64.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total transaction of $15,094,275.12. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 80,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,427,227.92. The trade was a 67.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 710,500 shares of company stock valued at $67,684,956. Company insiders own 0.16% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GILD. Redwood Financial Network Corp grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Redwood Financial Network Corp now owns 2,530 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $234,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,580 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $322,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,422 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $782,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the last quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC raised its stake in Gilead Sciences by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 3,128 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $289,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, Concord Asset Management LLC VA raised its stake in Gilead Sciences by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 3,056 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $256,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ GILD traded down $1.88 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $104.08. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,399,538 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,866,207. Gilead Sciences has a one year low of $62.07 and a one year high of $106.69. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $93.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market cap of $129.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,156.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.18.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.23. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Gilead Sciences’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.04%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is currently 3,422.22%.

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.