Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) Short Interest Up 22.3% in June

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totalling 23,000,000 shares, an increase of 22.3% from the June 15th total of 18,810,000 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 7,530,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GILD shares. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Gilead Sciences in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Barclays reduced their target price on Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $76.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $80.00 to $78.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Friday, April 26th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, April 27th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $84.00.

Insider Transactions at Gilead Sciences

In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of Gilead Sciences stock in a transaction on Monday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $68.63, for a total transaction of $137,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 96,380 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,614,559.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.16% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Sachetta LLC bought a new position in Gilead Sciences during the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Palisade Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the first quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.

Gilead Sciences Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ GILD traded up $0.83 on Tuesday, hitting $71.64. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,128,608 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,481,669. The company’s 50-day moving average is $66.53 and its 200 day moving average is $71.61. The firm has a market cap of $89.25 billion, a PE ratio of 199.94, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.18. Gilead Sciences has a 1-year low of $62.07 and a 1-year high of $87.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.31.

Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.49) by $0.17. Gilead Sciences had a return on equity of 24.34% and a net margin of 1.76%. The business had revenue of $6.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.36 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.37 EPS. Gilead Sciences’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Gilead Sciences will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Gilead Sciences Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio is presently 855.56%.

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.