5 Dividend Stocks to Buy According to Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management

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

Dividend Yield as of August 5: 3.18%
Point72 Asset Management’s Stake Value: $293,903

An American pharmaceutical company, Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) was the third largest holding of Point72 Asset Management in Q1 2022. The hedge fund owned over 3.5 million MRK shares, increasing its position in the company by 6,769% during the quarter. Its total stake in the company stood at nearly $294 million, which represented 1.16% of Steve Cohen’s portfolio.

On July 26, Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) declared a quarterly dividend of $0.69 per share, in line with its previous dividend. The company holds an 11-streak of consistent dividend growth and has not slashed its dividend since 1985. As of August 5, the stock’s dividend yield came in at 3.18%.

Appreciating the company’s Q2 2022 earnings beat, Barclays raised its price target on Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) to $101, with an Overweight rating on the shares.

As per Insider Monkey’s data, the elite funds’ interest in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) increased in Q1 2022, with the company becoming a part of 84 hedge fund portfolios, up from 80 in the previous quarter. These hedge funds owned stakes worth over $5.8 billion in the New Jersey-based company.

Sound Shore Fund mentioned Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in its recently-published Q2 2022 investor letter. Here is what the firm has to say:

“On the positive side, a number of our health care names outperformed, including drug maker Merck & Co. Benefitting from a best in class research and development team, Merck’s progress is being fueled by the impressive growth of its immunooncology cancer drug, Keytruda. The stock remains attractive at less than 12 times 2023 earnings.”

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