S&P 500 Healthcare stocks: today's ranking and data
The S&P 500 has 59 companies in Healthcare today. It accounts for 8.9% of the market value of the index companies. Its median P/E is 26.5, against 23.6 for the index as a whole.
What Healthcare is and what drives its earnings
What it includes. Drug makers and biotech, medical device and supply makers, health insurers and managed-care companies, drug distributors, hospitals and clinics, and diagnostics, lab and research-tools companies.
What drives its earnings. For drug makers, the patent cycle (when a drug's patent expires, generics arrive and its sales drop sharply), clinical trials and FDA approvals. Across the sector, drug pricing and what Medicare and Medicaid reimburse. For insurers, the gap between the premiums they collect and the medical costs they pay. And underneath it all, an aging population.
How it behaves. It is considered defensive because demand for health care depends little on the economic cycle, but it carries a risk of its own, regulatory and political: a change in drug pricing or public reimbursement hits many companies in the sector at once.
The classification is the one used by this site's data provider, similar to but not the same as GICS, S&P's standard: this sector roughly matches "Health Care". Counts may therefore differ from other sources.
All 59 stocks in the sector, by today's multi-factor rank
The rank is the order produced by a quantitative model on data as of Sep 18, 2026: the average of four factors (momentum, value, quality and growth) computed from public data, against the 466 index companies that score. It is a calculation, not a recommendation to buy or sell: it knows nothing about anyone's situation, horizon or risk, and the returns of portfolios built with it are simulated. How it is computed: see the methodology.
| In sector | Index rank | Company | P/E | Market cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 of 466 | LLY Eli Lilly | 38.7 | $1.03T |
| 2 | 24 of 466 | INCY Incyte | 16.0 | $25.40B |
| 3 | 33 of 466 | CAH Cardinal Health | 31.2 | $52.42B |
| 4 | 43 of 466 | JNJ Johnson & Johnson | 31.3 | $650.65B |
| 5 | 53 of 466 | CVS CVS Health | 23.4 | $113.62B |
| 6 | 63 of 466 | ELV Elevance Health | 18.2 | $89.12B |
| 7 | 73 of 466 | VRTX Vertex Pharmaceuticals | 29.6 | $128.84B |
| 8 | 82 of 466 | BMY Bristol-Myers Squibb | 13.9 | $128.81B |
| 9 | 88 of 466 | UHS Universal Health Services | 7.2 | $10.41B |
| 10 | 92 of 466 | VTRS Viatris | — | $19.47B |
| 11 | 94 of 466 | CNC Centene | — | $32.16B |
| 12 | 95 of 466 | CI Cigna | 11.4 | $72.74B |
| 13 | 99 of 466 | BIIB Biogen | 38.3 | $31.84B |
| 14 | 102 of 466 | AMGN Amgen | 24.0 | $208.49B |
| 15 | 109 of 466 | SOLV Solventum | 10.9 | $15.12B |
| 16 | 122 of 466 | COO Cooper Companies | 18.9 | $10.51B |
| 17 | 133 of 466 | REGN Regeneron Pharmaceuticals | 19.4 | $80.80B |
| 18 | 134 of 466 | HSIC Henry Schein | 24.7 | $9.46B |
| 19 | 138 of 466 | DXCM DexCom | 35.5 | $33.72B |
| 20 | 141 of 466 | COR Cencora | 22.9 | $58.92B |
| 21 | 146 of 466 | MCK McKesson | 23.4 | $101.98B |
| 22 | 152 of 466 | MRK Merck | 116.6 | $362.35B |
| 23 | 160 of 466 | EW Edwards Lifesciences | 50.7 | $50.87B |
| 24 | 166 of 466 | TECH Bio-Techne | 62.9 | $11.35B |
| 25 | 170 of 466 | WAT Waters | 105.1 | $41.40B |
| 26 | 182 of 466 | DGX Quest Diagnostics | 26.2 | $27.20B |
| 27 | 195 of 466 | IDXX IDEXX Laboratories | 36.0 | $40.31B |
| 28 | 198 of 466 | ABBV AbbVie | 74.6 | $466.45B |
| 29 | 204 of 466 | HUM Humana | 36.5 | $46.38B |
| 30 | 214 of 466 | WST West Pharmaceutical Services | 46.4 | $25.50B |
| 31 | 241 of 466 | UNH UnitedHealth | 24.2 | $338.30B |
| 32 | 246 of 466 | ZBH Zimmer Biomet | 23.1 | $18.19B |
| 33 | 255 of 466 | A Agilent Technologies | 30.9 | $44.12B |
| 34 | 258 of 466 | ALGN Align Technology | 25.7 | $10.49B |
| 35 | 259 of 466 | LH Labcorp | 26.5 | $26.01B |
| 36 | 266 of 466 | TMO Thermo Fisher Scientific | 35.0 | $240.87B |
| 37 | 291 of 466 | BDX Becton, Dickinson | 54.5 | $49.29B |
| 38 | 299 of 466 | ISRG Intuitive Surgical | 45.1 | $140.92B |
| 39 | 300 of 466 | MDT Medtronic | 22.6 | $117.85B |
| 40 | 301 of 466 | RVTY Revvity | 68.6 | $16.01B |
| 41 | 307 of 466 | VEEV Veeva Systems | 42.6 | $42.13B |
| 42 | 312 of 466 | PFE Pfizer | 36.4 | $157.65B |
| 43 | 325 of 466 | DHR Danaher | 37.6 | $148.90B |
| 44 | 340 of 466 | RMD ResMed | 21.6 | $32.46B |
| 45 | 353 of 466 | STE STERIS | 25.1 | $19.99B |
| 46 | 369 of 466 | GEHC GE HealthCare Technologies | 14.8 | $28.97B |
| 47 | 370 of 466 | SYK Stryker | 28.5 | $105.53B |
| 48 | 379 of 466 | IQV IQVIA | 33.1 | $43.85B |
| 49 | 388 of 466 | PODD Insulet | 26.3 | $9.75B |
| 50 | 389 of 466 | BSX Boston Scientific | 17.5 | $62.81B |
| 51 | 392 of 466 | CRL Charles River Laboratories International | — | $13.39B |
| 52 | 424 of 466 | BAX Baxter International | — | $11.79B |
| 53 | 437 of 466 | ZTS Zoetis | 11.8 | $29.50B |
| 54 | 448 of 466 | ABT Abbott Laboratories | 33.2 | $177.55B |
| 55 | 456 of 466 | GILD Gilead Sciences | — | $186.13B |
| — | not scored today | DVA DaVita | 15.1 | $11.73B |
| — | not scored today | HCA HCA Healthcare | 14.3 | $92.60B |
| — | not scored today | MRNA Moderna | — | $61.50B |
| — | not scored today | MTD Mettler-Toledo International | 31.4 | $27.90B |
"—" under P/E: no positive P/E (negative trailing earnings or missing at the source). 4 stocks do not get a multi-factor score today because a factor is missing; they go last, alphabetically. The full S&P 500 ranking →
Healthcare P/E against the index
| Median P/E | Companies with a positive P/E | |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare | 26.5 | 53 of 59 |
| S&P 500 | 23.6 | 474 of 500 |
The median is the company in the middle: a few firms with near-zero earnings and huge P/Es do not move it, which is what happens to the average. Loss-making companies have no P/E and are left out.
Guide: P/E ratio explained · all guides
The 10 largest in the sector by market cap
| # | Company | Market cap | Weight in sector | Rank today |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LLY Eli Lilly | $1.03T | 16.5% | 9 |
| 2 | JNJ Johnson & Johnson | $650.65B | 10.4% | 43 |
| 3 | ABBV AbbVie | $466.45B | 7.5% | 198 |
| 4 | MRK Merck | $362.35B | 5.8% | 152 |
| 5 | UNH UnitedHealth | $338.30B | 5.4% | 241 |
| 6 | TMO Thermo Fisher Scientific | $240.87B | 3.9% | 266 |
| 7 | AMGN Amgen | $208.49B | 3.3% | 102 |
| 8 | GILD Gilead Sciences | $186.13B | 3.0% | 456 |
| 9 | ABT Abbott Laboratories | $177.55B | 2.8% | 448 |
| 10 | PFE Pfizer | $157.65B | 2.5% | 312 |
Total market value (price times shares outstanding), without the float adjustment S&P applies: the weight is indicative. Companies with two share classes count once.
Insider buying and selling in the last 30 days
From Aug 19, 2026 to Sep 18, 2026, 7 open-market purchases ($2.1M) and 77 sales ($199.5M), filed on SEC Form 4 by directors, officers and 10% owners of 35 companies in the sector. Counted by trade date; grants, option exercises and transfers between the same insider's accounts are left out.
| Company | Buys | Amount | Sales | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABT Abbott Laboratories | 0 | — | 2 | $46.2M |
| TMO Thermo Fisher Scientific | 0 | — | 5 | $22.3M |
| SYK Stryker | 0 | — | 2 | $17.2M |
| MRNA Moderna | 0 | — | 4 | $16.9M |
| DHR Danaher | 0 | — | 1 | $12.7M |
| CAH Cardinal Health | 0 | — | 2 | $11.1M |
| CRL Charles River Laboratories International | 0 | — | 2 | $10.7M |
| JNJ Johnson & Johnson | 0 | — | 1 | $9.2M |
| DGX Quest Diagnostics | 0 | — | 2 | $7.9M |
| GILD Gilead Sciences | 0 | — | 5 | $6.5M |
| WST West Pharmaceutical Services | 0 | — | 4 | $5.4M |
| COR Cencora | 0 | — | 3 | $4.4M |
| INCY Incyte | 0 | — | 2 | $4.2M |
| CNC Centene | 0 | — | 1 | $3.8M |
| DXCM DexCom | 0 | — | 6 | $3.8M |
| EW Edwards Lifesciences | 0 | — | 5 | $3.3M |
| VEEV Veeva Systems | 0 | — | 3 | $3.3M |
| REGN Regeneron Pharmaceuticals | 0 | — | 3 | $2.3M |
| COO Cooper Companies | 5 | $1.9M | 0 | — |
| MTD Mettler-Toledo International | 0 | — | 1 | $1.3M |
| RMD ResMed | 0 | — | 2 | $1.3M |
| IDXX IDEXX Laboratories | 0 | — | 1 | $1.2M |
| RVTY Revvity | 0 | — | 1 | $1.0M |
| ZBH Zimmer Biomet | 0 | — | 2 | $824k |
| IQV IQVIA | 0 | — | 1 | $697k |
| ISRG Intuitive Surgical | 0 | — | 8 | $539k |
| UNH UnitedHealth | 0 | — | 1 | $456k |
| BMY Bristol-Myers Squibb | 0 | — | 2 | $437k |
| CI Cigna | 0 | — | 1 | $175k |
| PODD Insulet | 1 | $162k | 0 | — |
| MDT Medtronic | 0 | — | 1 | $139k |
| BSX Boston Scientific | 1 | $100k | 0 | — |
| MCK McKesson | 0 | — | 1 | $99k |
| A Agilent Technologies | 0 | — | 1 | $96k |
| BDX Becton, Dickinson | 0 | — | 1 | $31k |
Upcoming earnings dates
Dates announced by the companies themselves, from Nasdaq's public calendar (between Sep 21, 2026 and Oct 23, 2026). They are announcements, not measured dates: each company's SEC history is on its earnings page.
| Date | Company | When |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 13, 2026 | JNJ Johnson & Johnson | before the open |
| Oct 13, 2026 | UNH UnitedHealth | before the open |
| Oct 20, 2026 | DGX Quest Diagnostics | no time announced |
| Oct 20, 2026 | DHR Danaher | no time announced |
| Oct 20, 2026 | ELV Elevance Health | no time announced |
| Oct 20, 2026 | ISRG Intuitive Surgical | no time announced |
| Oct 21, 2026 | ABT Abbott Laboratories | no time announced |
| Oct 22, 2026 | WST West Pharmaceutical Services | no time announced |
Who reports this week across the S&P 500 →
The other S&P 500 sectors
- Basic Materials
- Communication Services
- Consumer Cyclical
- Consumer Defensive
- Energy
- Financial Services
- Industrials
- Real Estate
- Technology
- Utilities
Dividend yields in Healthcare and across the S&P 500 →
Sources: sector classification, market cap and P/E from the market-data provider (Yahoo Finance), as of the latest close downloaded; Quant500 multi-factor ranking of Sep 18, 2026; SEC Form 4 (EDGAR); Nasdaq public calendar. P/E is trailing twelve months and the median is taken per company, not per share class. Not investment advice.