5 Best Dividend Stocks to Buy According to Noam Gottesman’s GLG Partners

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

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 80
Dividend Yield as of May 20: 2.99%
GLG Partners’ Stake Value: $91,703,000

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is an American multinational pharmaceutical company, based in New Jersey.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) has been increasing its dividend for the past 11 years consecutively, with a CAGR of 6.2%. In 2021, the company announced a 6% hike in its annual dividend to $0.69 per share, with a dividend yield of 2.99%, as recorded on May 20. In April, Barclays lifted its price target on Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) to $97, while maintaining an Overweight rating on the shares. In the same month, Morgan Stanley initiated its coverage of the stock with an Equal Weight rating and believes that the company is best positioned to deliver growth in the coming years.

As per Insider Monkey’s Q4 2021 data, 80 hedge funds held positions in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK), with stakes valued at $3.78 billion. In comparison, 77 hedge funds held stakes in the company in the previous quarter, with a collective value of $4.5 billion.

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