Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Short Interest Up 7.6% in October

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently issued reports on GILD shares. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Citigroup started coverage on Gilead Sciences in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $125.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Gilead Sciences from $94.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Gilead Sciences from $83.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Gilead Sciences from $81.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Gilead Sciences has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.78, for a total transaction of $2,459,529.46. Following the sale, the insider now owns 78,127 shares in the company, valued at $6,545,480.06. This represents a 27.31 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 25,590 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $91.50, for a total value of $2,341,485.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 99,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,113,308.50. This represents a 20.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 56,947 shares of company stock valued at $4,968,674. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GILD. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Gilead Sciences by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,422 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $782,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Concord Asset Management LLC VA increased its stake 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 worth $256,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lifted its stake in shares of Gilead Sciences by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 17,822 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,494,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FDx Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. FDx Advisors Inc. now owns 5,365 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $450,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Price Performance

GILD opened at $88.03 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $109.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 982.89, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.17. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $86.87 and a 200 day moving average of $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. 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 released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.58 by $0.44. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 0.45% and a return on equity of 29.00%. The firm had revenue of $7.55 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.01 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.29 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences will post 4.38 EPS for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 13th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 13th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is presently 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.