Gilead Sciences (GILD) will raise its quarterly dividend by 10.6 percent to $0.52 per share. This marks the second consecutive year of dividend increases for the biopharmaceutical company. Gilead initiated a 43 cents per share quarterly dividend in 2015.

The increased dividend is payable on March 30, 2017, to stockholders of record at the close of business on March 16, 2017. Based on today's closing price of $73.13 the new annual dividend of $2.08 per share translates into an estimated yield of 2.8% for Gilead.

Gilead Sciences, Inc. is a research-based biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops and commercializes innovative medicines. The company's principal areas of focus include human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), liver diseases (hepatitis C and hepatitis B), cardiovascular, hematology/oncology and inflammation/respiratory. Gilead became a public company in 1992 and has been paying a dividend since 2015.