5 Dividend Stocks to Buy According to Billionaire Cliff Asness

4. Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

AQR Capital’s Stake Value: $375,562,000
Percent of AQR Capital’s 13F Portfolio: 0.84%
Dividend Yield as of September 12: 4.29%
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 58

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) is a California-based biotech company that mainly focuses on the research and development of medicines for serious illnesses. The company has been raising its dividends consistently for the past 6 years. It currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.73 per share, with shares boasting a yield of 4.29%, as recorded on September 12.

During Q2 2022, AQR Capital purchased an additional stake in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) worth over $214 million. The hedge fund’s total stake in the company stood at over $375.5 million, which represented 0.84% of its 13F portfolio. The fund started its position in the company during the fourth quarter of 2010, with shares worth $1.4 million.

In September, Mizuho lifted its price target on Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) to $75 with a Buy rating on the shares, as the company announced settlement agreements with different manufacturers.

According to Insider Monkey’s data for Q2 2022, 58 hedge funds owned stakes in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD), compared with 68 in the previous quarter. The collective value of stakes owned by these funds is roughly $4 billion. Jim Simons and Ken Griffin were some of the company’s prominent stakeholders in Q2.

ClearBridge Investments mentioned Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) in its Q4 2021 investor letter. Here is what the firm has to say:

“Other pharma companies are providing solutions as well. Biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences’ remdesivir, sold under the brand name Veklury, is a broad-spectrum antiviral medication administered by intravenous infusion; it can shorten the time to recovery in hospitalized patients and reduce the risk of hospitalization and death in non-hospitalized patients.”