Billionaire Fund Managers Are Bullish On These Biotech Stocks

Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies is betting big on Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) as well. Have the fund’s mathematical models fallen in love with biotech stocks? According to RenTech’s latest 13F filing, the fund held approximately 10.2 million shares of Gilead Sciences. Billionaire Kerr Neilson is also keeping an eye on Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD), with his fund, Platinum Asset Management, reportedly holding 2.89 million shares. Overall, 8 of the billionaires followed by Insider Monkey had a stake in Gilead Sciences at the end of the 2017 third quarter.

Citigroup has recently upgraded Gilead Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) from Neutral to Buy, citing the impact of tax reform and Hepatitis C Virus stabilization. The company’s sales of hepatitis C treatments have been squashed by competition, but it has an ace up its sleeve. Gilead’s hope reside in its HIV treatment candidate which is expected to bring in sales of $5 billion by 2022. The company expects an answer from the FDA by February 12.

In the case of Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN), billionaire Ken Griffin leads the way with his fund, Citadel Investment Group, reportedly holding 335,533 shares. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management is very bullish on the stock and has increased its holding to 184,902 shares by the end of September. In general, 9 of the billionaires tracked by Insider Monkey were invested in Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN), up from just 5 a quarter before.

Illumina Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) released fourth quarter financial results on Tuesday, managing to surprise investors. The company reported revenue of $778 million and adjusted earnings of $1.44 per share, easily beating analysts’ expectations of $1.22 in earnings per share and $753.3 in revenue. Looking ahead, Illumina said it expects revenue to grow by 13-14% in 2018 and has projected earnings in the range of $4.50-$4.60 per share.