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

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 23,410,000 shares, a growth of 29.6% from the November 15th total of 18,060,000 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 6,840,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Daiwa America upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.43.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total value of $15,094,275.12. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 80,801 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,427,227.92. This represents a 67.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 248,645 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.76, for a total value of $23,064,310.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 138,919 shares in the company, valued at $12,886,126.44. This trade represents a 64.16 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 447,234 shares of company stock valued at $41,288,086. 0.16% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Exome Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the third quarter valued at $4,192,000. Brass Tax Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the third quarter valued at $242,000. Garden State Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the third quarter valued at $221,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 22.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,241,354 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $190,611,000 after acquiring an additional 416,379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tri Ri Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the third quarter valued at $3,380,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

Gilead Sciences stock traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $91.86. The stock had a trading volume of 7,515,462 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,068,425. 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 capitalization of $114.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1,020.61, a PEG ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.18. Gilead Sciences has a 1-year low of $62.07 and a 1-year high of $98.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $89.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $79.55.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.58 by $0.44. The company had revenue of $7.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.01 billion. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 29.00% and a net margin of 0.45%. Gilead Sciences’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.29 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Gilead Sciences will post 4.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 13th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is currently 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.