Short Interest in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Increases By 7.6%

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) saw a large growth in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 17,740,000 shares, a growth of 7.6% from the October 15th total of 16,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,230,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days. Approximately 1.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $100.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI raised Gilead Sciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $83.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total transaction of $167,660.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 100,189 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,398,843.87. This represents a 1.96 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total value of $2,459,529.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 78,127 shares in the company, valued at $6,545,480.06. This trade represents a 27.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,947 shares of company stock worth $4,968,674 in the last three months. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in 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 period. Concord Asset Management LLC VA grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 3.8% in the third quarter. Concord Asset Management LLC VA now owns 3,056 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $256,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. TFB Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 1.2% in the third quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 9,397 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $788,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 0.7% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 17,822 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,494,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FDx Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 2.2% during the third quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. now owns 5,365 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $450,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of GILD stock opened at $88.46 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $86.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $110.25 billion, a PE ratio of 982.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.17. Gilead Sciences has a fifty-two week low of $62.07 and a fifty-two week high of $98.90.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. Gilead Sciences’s quarterly revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Gilead Sciences will post 4.38 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Investors of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is 3,422.22%.

About Gilead Sciences

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.