Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD – Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 21,180,000 shares, a decline of 6.2% from the March 31st total of 22,570,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 7,220,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other news, insider Merdad Parsey sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.96, for a total transaction of $145,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 96,304 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,026,339.84. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Institutional Trading of Gilead Sciences
Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Gilead Sciences in the 4th quarter worth approximately $210,000. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Gilead Sciences by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,787,355 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $306,814,000 after purchasing an additional 175,925 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Gilead Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at about $74,000. Abundance Wealth Counselors acquired a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,881,000. Finally, HTLF Bank bought a new stake in shares of Gilead Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at $253,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.67% of the company’s stock.
Gilead Sciences Stock Performance
GILD traded down $0.96 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $64.98. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,766,682 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,432,940. Gilead Sciences has a twelve month low of $64.63 and a twelve month high of $87.86. The stock has a market cap of $80.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 181.14, a PEG ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.19. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $71.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $76.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08.
Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ:GILD – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($1.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.49) by $0.17. Gilead Sciences had a net margin of 1.76% and a return on equity of 24.34%. The business had revenue of $6.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.36 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. Gilead Sciences’s revenue was up 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Gilead Sciences will post 3.82 earnings per share for the current year.
Gilead Sciences Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.74%. Gilead Sciences’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 855.56%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
GILD has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences from $90.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Gilead Sciences in a report on Friday, April 19th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Gilead Sciences from $76.00 to $74.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com raised Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, Truist Financial cut Gilead Sciences from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $91.00 to $82.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.60.
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.