15 Best S&P 500 Dividend Stocks to Buy in 2026

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

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 92

Dividend Yield as of January 21: 3.11%

On January 20, TD Cowen analyst Steve Scala raised Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) price target to $120 from $100. The firm maintained a Hold rating. The analyst acknowledged that Merck is a strong and well-run company, but said it may be hard for the stock to stand out as a top pharma pick unless the company can deliver a clearer boost to its long-term growth outlook.

Merck has been trying to strengthen that growth story. On January 12, the company raised its projections for a new wave of growth drivers, saying it now expects these newer businesses to bring in around $70 billion in revenue by the mid-2030s. This comes as the company speeds up the rollout of additional drugs ahead of expected competition to its blockbuster cancer treatment Keytruda.

The updated outlook included higher expectations for several areas. Merck now believes its cardiometabolic and respiratory treatments could generate about $20 billion in sales, up from a prior estimate of $15 billion. It also sharply increased its forecast for infectious disease drugs, now expecting roughly $15 billion, compared with the earlier $5 billion estimate.

Meanwhile, Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) and Moderna shared encouraging results on January 20 tied to their experimental personalized cancer vaccine. The companies said the vaccine, when combined with Keytruda, continued to lower the risk of recurrence or death in high-risk melanoma patients even five years after treatment began. In the mid-stage trial involving patients who had already undergone surgery, the combo reduced the risk of recurrence or death by 49% after five years, consistent with the strong three-year data released back in 2023.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is a global healthcare giant, best known for its prescription drugs and biologic therapies, vaccines, and animal health products.