Gilead Sciences (GILD) will raise its quarterly dividend by 4.4 percent to $0.71 per share in 2021. This follows a dividend hike of 7.9 percent to $0.68 per share in the first quarter of 2020. The biopharmaceutical company has now raised its dividend for the 6th consecutive year.

The next dividend is payable on March 30, 2021, to stockholders of record at the close of business on March 15, 2021. A new annualized dividend rate of $2.84 per share yields 4.3% at a stock price of $65.83 for Gilead Sciences.

Gilead Sciences will now pay shareholders an estimated $3.6 billion in dividends annually. This 2021 dividend hike just announced is the smallest on record for the company since a first payment was initiated in 2015.

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. Gilead has operations in more than 35 countries worldwide, with headquarters in Foster City, California.