Short Interest in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Drops By 11.1%

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 17,740,000 shares, a drop of 11.1% from the September 15th total of 19,950,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 6,510,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Gilead Sciences news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total value of $167,660.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 100,189 shares in the company, valued at $8,398,843.87. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.83, for a total transaction of $167,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 100,189 shares in the company, valued at $8,398,843.87. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Johanna Mercier sold 29,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 78,127 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,545,480.06. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 36,847 shares of company stock valued at $3,033,340 over the last three months. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Gilead Sciences

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GILD. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Gilead Sciences by 2.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 114,732,575 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $8,404,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,910,147 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 1st quarter worth $134,489,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its stake in Gilead Sciences by 2.7% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 61,246,366 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,486,296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,589,240 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its position in Gilead Sciences by 24.7% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 7,889,663 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $541,310,000 after acquiring an additional 1,564,792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C bought a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 2nd quarter valued at $102,298,000. 83.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Gilead Sciences Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of GILD stock traded up $1.19 on Tuesday, reaching $86.24. 1,555,133 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,109,608. Gilead Sciences has a one year low of $62.07 and a one year high of $87.86. The company has a market cap of $107.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 236.25, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.18. The company has a 50-day moving average of $80.07 and a 200-day moving average of $72.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $2.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.40. The company had revenue of $6.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.64 billion. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 3.79% and a return on equity of 29.34%. Analysts anticipate that Gilead Sciences will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 27th. Investors of record on Friday, September 13th were given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 13th. Gilead Sciences’s payout ratio is currently 855.56%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on GILD shares. Barclays lifted their price target on Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $84.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Gilead Sciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Thursday, June 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Gilead Sciences from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Raymond James raised Gilead Sciences from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $93.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $84.83.

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.