Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Short Interest Update

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 22,570,000 shares, an increase of 17.2% from the March 15th total of 19,250,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 7,440,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total value of $145,920.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 96,304 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,026,339.84. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Gilead Sciences news, CFO Andrew D. Dickinson sold 5,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.78, for a total value of $428,900.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 101,534 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,709,586.52. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total value of $145,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,026,339.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 9,000 shares of company stock valued at $721,180. Corporate insiders own 0.16% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. PCA Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Tompkins Financial Corp grew its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 223.1% during the third quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 349 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. 83.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on GILD. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on 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. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $75.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $78.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Barclays cut their target price on Gilead Sciences from $85.00 to $80.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Mizuho cut their target price on Gilead Sciences from $101.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $85.36.

Gilead Sciences Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ GILD traded down $0.58 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $68.07. 5,691,760 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,553,057. The company has a quick ratio of 1.27, a current ratio of 1.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08. The stock has a market cap of $84.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.19. Gilead Sciences has a 1 year low of $67.62 and a 1 year high of $87.86. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $72.79 and a 200 day moving average of $76.83.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.76 by ($0.04). Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 38.85%. The business had revenue of $7.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.67 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 3.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences will post 7.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This is a boost from Gilead Sciences's previous quarterly dividend of $0.75. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.52%. Gilead Sciences's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 68.44%.

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.