Gilead Approves 2-for-1 Split as Shares Close to Record

Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD)’s board scheduled a 2-for-1 stock split as optimism about the company’s experimental hepatitis C drug pushed shares to record highs.

Stockholders on Jan. 7, will receive an additional share, Gilead said today in a statement. The split will increase the number of outstanding common shares to 1.5 billion, the Foster City, California-based company said. After such an action, a company’s stock usually trades at half as much per share as before the division.

Gilead, the world’s largest maker of HIV medicines, rose less than 1 percent to $74.25 at the close in New York before the split was announced. The company’s shares closed at $76.12 on Nov. 23, the highest level since Gilead first offered stock in 1992, as its experimental drugs to treat hepatitis C have shown to be effective and safe in clinical trials.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ryan Flinn in San Francisco at rflinn@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at rgale5@bloomberg.net