Short Interest in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Declines By 6.1%

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 21,980,000 shares, a decline of 6.1% from the November 30th total of 23,410,000 shares. Currently, 1.8% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 6,590,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.3 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 164,211 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.92, for a total value of $15,094,275.12. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 80,801 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,427,227.92. This trade represents a 67.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 8,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.96, for a total transaction of $781,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 132,373 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,173,021.08. This trade represents a 6.03 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 453,734 shares of company stock valued at $41,902,086. Company insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bellevue Group AG lifted its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 46,027 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,859,000 after buying an additional 7,093 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Gilead Sciences by 149.5% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 81,620 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,843,000 after buying an additional 48,910 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 12,414,268 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $851,743,000 after acquiring an additional 93,068 shares in the last quarter. IRON Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 3rd quarter worth $830,000. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 323,011 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,081,000 after purchasing an additional 36,895 shares in the last quarter. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gilead Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of Gilead Sciences stock traded up $0.36 on Wednesday, hitting $92.37. 3,482,458 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,043,598. 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $91.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $82.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $115.12 billion, a PE ratio of 1,026.33, 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.

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

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.33%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is currently 3,422.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research started coverage on Gilead Sciences in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $74.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.43.

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.