Top Healthcare Stocks by Dividends Paid
Top healthcare companies ranked by dividends paid, latest annual filings.
What Dividends Paid Means for Healthcare Companies
Dividends paid records the cash a company handed to shareholders across the latest fiscal year. In healthcare, the payers are mostly large pharmaceutical and medical device businesses, whose patent-protected cash flows support a dividend that rises in small steps for decades. Most biotechnology firms pay nothing at all, since research programs consume every dollar they raise, so this ranking covers one mature slice of a very broad sector.
Why It Matters in Healthcare
For the mature end of the sector, the payout is a statement about confidence: a company commits to a stream of cash years before it knows which compounds replace the ones going off patent. That is also the limitation. A pipeline setback changes the coverage of a payout long before the payout itself moves, because boards defend the dividend and let the ratio stretch instead. Reading it beside earnings and cash flow keeps that gap visible.
What to Read Alongside
Read it beside Net Income to gauge what share of profit leaves the company, Free Cash Flow to test whether cash covered the payment, and Share Buybacks for the other half of shareholder returns.
| # | Symbol | Company | Sector | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | JNJ | Johnson & Johnson | Healthcare | $12.38B | $641.07B |
| 2 | ABBV | AbbVie Inc. | Healthcare | $11.66B | $506.77B |
| 3 | PFE | Pfizer Inc. | Healthcare | $9.77B | $169.79B |
| 4 | MRK | Merck & Co., Inc. | Healthcare | $8.18B | $346.91B |
| 5 | UNH | UnitedHealth Group Incorporated | Healthcare | $7.92B | $368.64B |
| 6 | NVS | Novartis AG | Healthcare | $7.82B | $292.35B |
| 7 | SNY | Sanofi | Healthcare | $5.60B | $100.13B |
| 8 | LLY | Eli Lilly and Company | Healthcare | $5.38B | $1.14T |
| 9 | AMGN | Amgen Inc. | Healthcare | $5.12B | $240.38B |
| 10 | BMY | Bristol-Myers Squibb Company | Healthcare | $5.04B | $125.85B |
| 11 | AZN | AstraZeneca PLC | Healthcare | $4.97B | $266.85B |
| 12 | ABT | Abbott Laboratories | Healthcare | $4.12B | $181.50B |
| 13 | GILD | Gilead Sciences, Inc. | Healthcare | $4.00B | $196.77B |
| 14 | MDT | Medtronic plc | Healthcare | $3.64B | $121.25B |
| 15 | GSK | GSK plc | Healthcare | $3.45B | $102.38B |
| 16 | CVS | CVS Health Corporation | Healthcare | $3.40B | $118.34B |
| 17 | TAK | Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited | Healthcare | $2.02B | $65.27B |
| 18 | CI | The Cigna Group | Healthcare | $1.61B | $80.80B |
| 19 | ELV | Elevance Health, Inc. | Healthcare | $1.53B | $93.54B |
| 20 | SYK | Stryker Corporation | Healthcare | $1.28B | $117.42B |
| 21 | BDX | Becton, Dickinson and Company | Healthcare | $1.20B | $53.49B |
| 22 | ZTS | Zoetis Inc. | Healthcare | $889.00M | $33.46B |
| 23 | DHR | Danaher Corporation | Healthcare | $878.00M | $163.77B |
| 24 | HLN | Haleon plc | Healthcare | $822.96M | $44.86B |
| 25 | HCA | HCA Healthcare, Inc. | Healthcare | $679.00M | $100.73B |
| 26 | TMO | Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. | Healthcare | $636.00M | $253.24B |
| 27 | FMS | Fresenius Medical Care AG | Healthcare | $495.86M | $12.11B |
| 28 | CAH | Cardinal Health, Inc. | Healthcare | $491.00M | $58.25B |
| 29 | COR | Cencora, Inc. | Healthcare | $437.08M | $62.97B |
| 30 | HUM | Humana Inc. | Healthcare | $430.00M | $50.10B |
| 31 | PHG | Koninklijke Philips N.V. | Healthcare | $384.94M | $25.97B |
| 32 | MCK | McKesson Corporation | Healthcare | $381.00M | $115.76B |
| 33 | REGN | Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | Healthcare | $370.30M | $83.15B |
| 34 | DGX | Quest Diagnostics Incorporated | Healthcare | $353.00M | $26.81B |
| 35 | RMD | ResMed Inc. | Healthcare | $349.66M | $35.61B |
| 36 | BAX | Baxter International Inc. | Healthcare | $348.00M | $13.07B |
| 37 | SNN | Smith & Nephew plc | Healthcare | $330.00M | $12.75B |
| 38 | A | Agilent Technologies, Inc. | Healthcare | $282.00M | $49.61B |
| 39 | STE | STERIS plc | Healthcare | $241.80M | $22.44B |
| 40 | LH | Labcorp Holdings Inc. | Healthcare | $240.70M | $26.75B |
| 41 | ZBH | Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc. | Healthcare | $190.30M | $18.59B |
| 42 | ALC | Alcon Inc. | Healthcare | $166.00M | $33.83B |
| 43 | PRGO | Perrigo Company plc | Healthcare | $159.30M | $2.19B |
| 44 | XRAY | DENTSPLY SIRONA Inc. | Healthcare | $128.00M | $1.84B |
| 45 | ATR | AptarGroup, Inc. | Healthcare | $120.78M | $8.08B |
| 46 | OGN | Organon & Co. | Healthcare | $88.00M | $3.61B |
| 47 | EHC | Encompass Health Corporation | Healthcare | $71.10M | $12.24B |
| 48 | RDY | Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Limited | Healthcare | $71.00M | $11.45B |
| 49 | GEHC | GE HealthCare Technologies Inc. | Healthcare | $64.00M | $32.51B |
| 50 | WST | West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. | Healthcare | $61.20M | $27.78B |
| 51 | TFX | Teleflex Incorporated | Healthcare | $60.27M | $5.80B |
| 52 | QGEN | Qiagen N.V. | Healthcare | $54.24M | $10.40B |
| 53 | UHS | Universal Health Services, Inc. | Healthcare | $51.27M | $10.95B |
| 54 | TECH | Bio-Techne Corporation | Healthcare | $49.92M | $11.40B |
| 55 | NHC | National HealthCare Corporation | Healthcare | $38.70M | $3.50B |
| 56 | RVTY | Revvity, Inc. | Healthcare | $32.80M | $17.90B |
| 57 | CON | Concentra Group Holdings Parent, Inc. | Healthcare | $32.08M | $5.13B |
| 58 | CHE | Chemed Corporation | Healthcare | $31.70M | $6.70B |
| 59 | USPH | U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc. | Healthcare | $27.36M | $1.32B |
| 60 | CNMD | CONMED Corporation | Healthcare | $24.75M | $1.43B |
| 61 | BRKR | Bruker Corporation | Healthcare | $22.80M | $8.87B |
| 62 | PAHC | Phibro Animal Health Corporation | Healthcare | $19.46M | $1.58B |
| 63 | LMAT | LeMaitre Vascular, Inc. | Healthcare | $18.11M | $1.93B |
| 64 | STVN | Stevanato Group S.p.A. | Healthcare | $17.30M | $5.43B |
| 65 | IRMD | IRADIMED CORPORATION | Healthcare | $15.04M | $1.08B |
| 66 | ENSG | The Ensign Group, Inc. | Healthcare | $14.41M | $10.31B |
| 67 | ASTH | Astrana Health, Inc. | Healthcare | $7.88M | $1.85B |
| 68 | HSTM | HealthStream, Inc. | Healthcare | $3.70M | $1.07B |
| 69 | ANIP | ANI Pharmaceuticals, Inc. | Healthcare | $1.16M | $1.67B |
| 70 | GRFS | Grifols, S.A. | Healthcare | $995,766.2 | $5.39B |
No companies match this search.
This list ranks the total dollars paid out over the latest fiscal year, so the largest companies lead it; a big payout says nothing about the yield a share buys today. A company whose balance sheet runs above 150 times its market cap is left out, because at that gap the accounts are not in US dollars.
How this ranking is built
Companies are ranked by dividends paid as reported in their most recent annual filing with the SEC. Figures shown are in US dollars (or percent, as noted), rounded to two decimals.
- Source: annual 10-K / 20-F filings from companies trading on US exchanges (NYSE, Nasdaq, AMEX).
- Fiscal year: whichever annual period the company has most recently filed. Fiscal years don't always align with the calendar year, so the "as of FY" stamp above reflects the most common year across the table.
- Filtered out: warrants, preferred shares, and duplicate listings that share a parent company's financials.
- Size floor: A company qualifies at $500 million in market cap or above. Below that, one mis-stated figure outranks the companies the list is about.
- Currency check: A company whose annual revenue runs above 15 times its market cap is left out, because at that gap the two figures are not in the same currency.
- Currency check: A company whose balance sheet runs above 150 times its market cap is left out for the same reason.
- Update cadence: refreshed as companies file new annual reports (typically within 60–90 days of fiscal year end).
Not financial advice. This is a research tool, not a recommendation.
Frequently asked questions
Where does the dividends-paid figure come from?
From the financing section of the cash flow statement in the company's annual filing, covering the latest fiscal year. It is cash that actually left the business, including any special or extra distribution declared that year, and it excludes share repurchases, which appear on a separate line. Because the window is one fiscal year, a dividend started, raised, cut, or suspended partway through shows only a fraction of its eventual effect.
Why do most biotechnology companies pay no dividend?
A research-stage company funds trials from cash raised in the market and has no earnings to distribute; committing to a recurring payment would compete directly with the pipeline that gives it value. Dividends in this sector appear once products are approved, marketed, and generating steady cash, which is why the payer list skews toward large pharmaceutical and device firms rather than the sector's more numerous smaller names.