5 Best Dividend-Paying Stocks To Buy Now

3. Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Dividend Yield as of July 5: 2.99%

An American multinational pharmaceutical company, Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) surpassed Pfizer in its Covid-19 pill in Australia, Japan, and Italy. The company expects its molnupiravir sales for the year to fall between $5 billion and $5.5 billion, as the demand for the pill is still low in the US.

In 2021, Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) generated $14.1 billion in net operating cash flow, up 37.6% from the previous year. The company currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.69 per share and has raised its dividend consecutively for the past 11 years. On July 5, the stock’s yield was recorded at 2.99%, one of the highest among pharmaceutical companies.

In June, Cowen raised its price target on Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) to $102 with a Market Perform rating on the shares, highlighting the company’s recent acquisition of Seagen.

As of the quarter ended March 2022, Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) was in 84 hedge funds’ portfolios, according to Insider Monkey’s database. The collective value of these stakes was nearly $5.9 billion. Fisher Asset Management was the company’s leading shareholder in Q1, with over 11.8 million shares.

ClearBridge Investments mentioned Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in its Q4 2021 investor letter. Here is what the firm had to say:

“Other pharma companies are providing solutions as well. Merck’s antiviral pill molnupiravir is less effective than Pfizer’s, but it will be a helpful alternative for patients who cannot take Pfizer’s due to drug-drug interactions. Merck is also helping to manufacture Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine, which has less stringent storage requirements than the mRNA vaccines do.”