5 High Dividend S&P 500 Stocks

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

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 54

Dividend Yield as of April 26: 4.67%

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) is a California-based biopharmaceutical company that provides medication and therapies for liver diseases, hematology, chronic angina, oncology, arterial hypertension, and fungal infections. Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)’s dividend yield on April 26 came in at 4.67%. 

On February 1, Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) declared a $0.73 per share quarterly dividend, a 2.8% increase from its last dividend of $0.71. The dividend was distributed to shareholders of the company on March 30. 

Piper Sandler analyst Do Kim on April 12 raised the firm’s price target on Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) to $72 from $71 and kept a Neutral rating on the shares after the FDA lifted the partial clinical hold on some of its drugs. However, the analyst expects safety data to be closely scrutinized when it becomes available, and an unexpected safety imbalance could affect commercialization of drugs.

Insider Monkey’s Q4 data suggests that Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) was found in the public stock portfolios of 54 hedge funds, who collectively held stakes worth $2.36 billion. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies is a significant position holder in the company, with more than 9 million shares valued at $659.4 million.  

Here is what ClearBridge Investments Sustainability Leaders Strategy has to say about Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) in its Q4 2021 investor letter:

“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.”