It has been a strange year for the U.S. stock market. The S&P 500 ($SPX) is up about 10% so far, but most of that gain has come from just 23 stocks, mainly in AI and energy. The rest of the market has barely moved. When gains are this concentrated, it often makes investors cautious and pushes them toward safer, dividend-paying stocks.
One name standing out in that shift is Merck & Co. (MRK). The stock is up 19% year-to-date (YTD), beating the S&P 500’s 10% return over the same period. Moreover, Merck pays a steady quarterly dividend of $0.85 per share, which works out to a yield of about 2.68% at current prices.
