Short Interest in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Decreases By 6.2%

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 21,180,000 shares, a drop of 6.2% from the March 31st total of 22,570,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 7,220,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 0.8 %

GILD stock opened at $65.94 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. Gilead Sciences has a twelve month low of $64.63 and a twelve month high of $87.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 183.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.19. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $71.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $76.17.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.32) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.49) by $0.17. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 24.34%. The business had revenue of $6.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is presently 855.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Gilead Sciences

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total transaction of $145,920.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,026,339.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GILD. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Tompkins Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 223.1% in the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 349 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on GILD shares. Truist Financial cut Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $91.00 to $82.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Friday. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $75.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. StockNews.com raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $84.00 to $77.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.60.

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.