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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on GILD. Daiwa America upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $109.00 target price on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $105.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Citigroup began coverage on Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price for the company. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $97.96.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of GILD stock traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $91.84. 6,852,085 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,370,915. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Gilead Sciences has a 1 year low of $62.07 and a 1 year high of $98.90. The company has a market cap of $114.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,020.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 0.18. The company’s 50 day moving average is $91.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.08.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.01 billion. During the same quarter 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 research analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is currently 3,422.22%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 248,645 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on 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. The trade was a 64.16 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jeffrey Bluestone sold 6,788 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.39, for a total value of $620,355.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,920 shares in the company, valued at $815,198.80. This trade represents a 43.21 % 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 company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Decker Retirement Planning Inc. purchased a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 101.9% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 319 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 51.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 470 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 160 shares during the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.