Hedge Funds Are Betting On Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

Is Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) a bargain? Prominent investors are in an optimistic mood. The number of bullish hedge fund bets increased by 2 recently.

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)

In today’s marketplace, there are many metrics investors can use to track publicly traded companies. Some of the most innovative are hedge fund and insider trading sentiment. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the top picks of the top fund managers can trounce the S&P 500 by a solid margin (see just how much).

Equally as beneficial, optimistic insider trading activity is another way to break down the investments you’re interested in. There are lots of stimuli for an upper level exec to downsize shares of his or her company, but just one, very obvious reason why they would buy. Plenty of empirical studies have demonstrated the useful potential of this strategy if investors know what to do (learn more here).

With all of this in mind, it’s important to take a peek at the latest action surrounding Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD).

How have hedgies been trading Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)?

In preparation for this year, a total of 50 of the hedge funds we track held long positions in this stock, a change of 4% from one quarter earlier. With hedgies’ positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings considerably.

When looking at the hedgies we track, John Griffin’s Blue Ridge Capital had the biggest position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD), worth close to $294 million billion, comprising 4.1% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Partner Fund Management, managed by Christopher MedlockáJames, which held a $284 million position; 0.3% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the stock. Some other peers that hold long positions include Phill Gross and Robert Atchinson’s Adage Capital Management, Donald Chiboucis’s Columbus Circle Investors and Jacob Gottlieb’s Visium Asset Management.

With a general bullishness amongst the heavyweights, specific money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Renaissance Technologies, managed by Jim Simons, initiated the most valuable position in Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD). Renaissance Technologies had 112 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. John Murphy’s Alydar Capital also initiated a $26 million position during the quarter. The other funds with brand new gild positions are , Charles Davidson’s Wexford Capital, and John Burbank’s Passport Capital.

How are insiders trading Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)?

Bullish insider trading is particularly usable when the company in question has experienced transactions within the past 180 days. Over the last 180-day time frame, Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) has experienced 1 unique insiders purchasing, and 9 insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).

With the results exhibited by our research, retail investors should always pay attention to hedge fund and insider trading activity, and Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) is an important part of this process.

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