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Wall Street's latest downward push Wednesday has many investors thinking of getting defensive in their portfolios. One of the more defensive sectors investors can look at is health care, which traditionally has been seen as a safer and less volatile market segment.
Still, the sector also sees its shares of high-octane performers. Currently 19 of the 65 health care stocks within the S&P 500 have topped the broader market's performance in 2024.
See below a list of the top 10 health care stocks that sit inside of the S&P 500, as measured by year-to-date performance. For reference the S&P 500 is +8.7% in 2024.
No. 10: Stryker Corp. (SYK) +15.9% YTD.
No. 9: Cencora Inc. (COR) +16% YTD.
No. 8: Boston Scientific Corp. (BSX) +17.9% YTD.
No. 7: Align Technology (ALGN) +18.9% YTD.
No. 6: Cigna Group (CI) +19% YTD.
No. 5: Edwards Lifesciences Corp (EW) +19.9% YTD.
No. 4: HCA Healthcare Inc (HCA) +20.9% YTD.
No. 3: DaVita Inc (DVA) +26.7% YTD.
No. 2: Catalent (CTLT) +26.9% YTD.
No. 1: Eli Lilly and Company (LLY) +30.5% YTD.
For investors looking for further exposure to the Health Care sector, here are some popular health care-focused ETFs:
- Health Care Select Sector SPDR Fund (XLV)
- Vanguard Health Care ETF (VHT)
- iShares U.S. Healthcare ETF (IYH)
- iShares U.S. Medical Devices ETF (IHI)
- iShares Biotechnology ETF (IBB)
- SPDR S&P Biotech ETF (XBI)
- ARK Genomic Revolution ETF (ARKG)