Skip to content
etf.net

Launched · SEC filings

State Street Health Care Select Sector SPDR ETF

XLVNYSE ArcaSPDRA

$184.65−0.22 (−0.12%)

At close: Nov 2, 2026, 4:00 PM ET

A85/ 100

Rank 1 of 25 in Health Care (Broad)

A85/100Rank 1 of 25inHealth Care (Broad)
Intraday session: down, 79 prints from 184.87 to 184.65. Range 183.58 to 185.19. Use the arrow keys to read each point.183.50184.0010 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM
Expense ratio
0.08%
Fund size
$48.5B
1Y total return
+30.3%
Yield · Last 12 months
1.38%
Holdings
64
Avg volume · 30D
9.1M sh
52W range
low $141.97high $187.99
Launched
Filings
SEC EDGAR

The ETF.net XLV Grade

A

Score 85 out of 100

Category
Health Care (Broad)⁠
Rank
1 of 25
Six-pillar profile for XLV. Scores out of 100: Cost 98, Risk 78, Mission 84, Tradability 100, Holdings 39, Durability 87. Strongest: Tradability (100). Weakest: Holdings (39). Leans toward Tradability and Cost.

Score 85 of 100 falls in the A band. A is 70 or higher, B 55 to under 70, C 40 to under 55, D 25 to under 40, F under 25.

  • Cost

    The fund’s net expense ratio, ranked against its category.
    A98 out of 100
    Rank 1 of 25

  • Mission

    Whether the fund did what it promised, tested against its stated mandate.
    A84 out of 100
    Rank 1 of 11

  • Risk

    How the fund held up when markets fell: downside volatility, drawdowns and tail loss.
    A78 out of 100
    Rank 4 of 25

  • Tradability

    How easy the fund is to trade: daily volume, and how far its price strays from net asset value.
    A100 out of 100
    Rank 1 of 25

  • Holdings

    How concentrated the fund is, and how complete and current its disclosed holdings are.
    D39 out of 100
    Rank 20 of 25

  • Durability

    Whether the fund is likely to stay open, judged by its age, its assets and its issuer’s assets.
    A87 out of 100
    Rank 3 of 25

Our read on XLV

ETF.net Research

In short

ALive since 1998, XLV is the original way to own health care: about 60 S&P 500 names, a 0.08% fee, and one of the busiest tickers in the sector. Big pharma and device makers, not small-cap biotech.

Stated mandate

The fund seeks to track, before expenses, the price and yield performance of the Health Care Select Sector Index, which represents the health care sector of the S&P 500 Index.

Why people hold it

  • 0.08% a year against a cohort median of 0.50%. That ties it with FHLC as the cheapest in the group and edges VHT at 0.09%.
  • One of the most actively traded funds in its category, which generally keeps bid-ask spreads thin whether you trade 10 shares or 10,000.
  • Launched December 1998 as one of the first US sector funds, and it has tracked its S&P 500 health care index closely ever since.
  • Covers the whole sector in one line: pharma, devices, providers, biotech, life-science tools and health tech. Pays quarterly.ssga.com

Worth knowing

  • Cap-weighted and about 60 names deep, so the largest drug and device makers carry most of the weight.ssga.com
  • S&P 500 members only. Mid- and small-cap health care names sit outside the mandate.
  • One sector, one set of headlines: drug pricing rules, patent expirations and policy shifts move the whole basket together.

XLV Holdings

Holdings pillarD39 out of 100Rank 20 of 25 in Health Care (Broad)
Asset class
Stocks
Holdings
64
Top-10 weight
61%
Largest holding
LLY16.5%

Sectors

  • Health Care99.3%
  • Technology0.7%

Geography

  • United States100.00%
The fund’s holdings, weight-ordered — page 1 of 5.
#TickerCompanyWeight %SharesMarket valueHeld by ETFs
1LLYEli Lilly & Co16.46%5,853,931$7.97B593
2JNJJohnson & Johnson9.93%17,631,031$4.81B524
3ABBVAbbVie Inc7.70%12,928,390$3.73B523
4UNHUnitedHealth Group Inc5.52%6,566,919$2.68B494
5MRKMerck & Co. Inc.5.41%18,050,183$2.62B516
6TMOThermo Fisher Scientific Inc3.93%2,705,123$1.9B386
7AMGNAmgen Inc3.73%3,955,331$1.81B503
8GILDGilead Sciences Inc3.08%9,071,660$1.49B494
9ABTAbbott Laboratories2.71%12,659,657$1.31B375
10PFEPfizer Inc2.56%41,699,525$1.24B385
11ISRGIntuitive Surgical Inc2.37%2,584,664$1.15B423
12DHRDanaher Corp2.22%4,577,425$1.08B344
13VRTXVertex Pharmaceuticals Inc2.05%1,854,346$993M429
14BMYBristol Myers Squibb Co1.88%14,944,749$910M471
15MDTMedtronic PLC1.78%8,954,394$862M327

Showing 1–15 of 64 holdings

XLV Performance

Launched Dec 16, 1998

Shows how $10,000 changes over the selected period, with cash distributions reinvested at the closing price on each ex-dividend date.

XLV$13,029
SPY tracks large US stocks. It provides market context, rather than representing this fund’s strategy, asset class or investment benchmark.$11,199
Oct 31, 2025 to Oct 30, 2026. XLV $13,029. SPY $11,199. Use the arrow keys to read each point.$10,000$11,000$12,000$13,000Oct 2025Apr 2026Oct 2026

Oct 31, 2025 – Oct 30, 2026

Returns run to the Oct 30, 2026 close, with cash distributions reinvested. Each period starts on the same date that many months or years earlier. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.

Trailing total return for XLV. Periods over one year show the average yearly return.
PeriodXLV
Year to date+20.9%
1 month+9.8%
3 months+14.2%
1 year+30.3%
3 yearsper year+16.0%
5 yearsper year+8.4%
10 yearsper year+12.5%

With distributions reinvested.

Calendar-year total return with cash distributions hypothetically reinvested at the ex-dividend date’s closing price. The current year shows year to date.

Annual total returns for XLV
YearReturn barXLV
2026 YTD+20.9%
2025+14.5%
2024+2.5%
2023+2.1%
2022−2.1%
2021+26.0%
2020+13.3%

XLV in the news

XLV Dividends

Adds up every distribution paid per share over the last 12 months, divided by the last completed close. Distributions are counted by ex-date. Data through Oct 30, 2026.
1.38%Last 12 months
Payout per share
$2.55Last 12 months
Last payment
$0.64 per share
Paid on
Shares bought on or after this date do not qualify for this distribution.
Frequency
Quarterly

Distribution history

2017–2026

One bar per payment. 40 payments from 2017 to 2026 YTD. Mar 17, 2017 $0.27; Jun 16, 2017 $0.31; Sep 15, 2017 $0.30; Dec 15, 2017 $0.33; Mar 16, 2018 $0.30; Jun 15, 2018 $0.32; Sep 21, 2018 $0.37; Dec 21, 2018 $0.38; Mar 15, 2019 $0.34; Jun 21, 2019 $0.40; Sep 20, 2019 $0.38; Dec 20, 2019 $0.42; Dec 30, 2019 $0.67; Mar 23, 2020 $0.38; Jun 22, 2020 $0.42; Sep 21, 2020 $0.42; Dec 21, 2020 $0.46; Mar 22, 2021 $0.40; Jun 21, 2021 $0.48; Sep 20, 2021 $0.47; Dec 20, 2021 $0.53; Mar 21, 2022 $0.43; Jun 21, 2022 $0.50; Sep 19, 2022 $0.51; Dec 19, 2022 $0.56; Mar 20, 2023 $0.49; Jun 20, 2023 $0.54; Sep 18, 2023 $0.54; Dec 18, 2023 $0.60; Mar 18, 2024 $0.52; Jun 24, 2024 $0.57; Sep 23, 2024 $0.58; Dec 23, 2024 $0.62; Mar 24, 2025 $0.56; Jun 23, 2025 $0.63; Sep 22, 2025 $0.62; Dec 22, 2025 $0.66; Mar 23, 2026 $0.59; Jun 22, 2026 $0.66; Sep 21, 2026 $0.64. Use the arrow keys to read each point.2017201820192020202120222023202420252026YTD
Ex-datePay dateAmount per share
Sep 21, 2026Sep 23, 2026$0.64
Jun 22, 2026Jun 24, 2026$0.66
Mar 23, 2026Mar 25, 2026$0.59
Dec 22, 2025Dec 24, 2025$0.66
Sep 22, 2025Sep 24, 2025$0.62
Jun 23, 2025Jun 25, 2025$0.63
Mar 24, 2025Mar 26, 2025$0.56
Dec 23, 2024Dec 26, 2024$0.62
Sep 23, 2024Sep 25, 2024$0.58
Jun 24, 2024Jun 26, 2024$0.57
Mar 18, 2024Mar 21, 2024$0.52
Dec 18, 2023Dec 21, 2023$0.60

See all 106 payments⁠

$10,000 in XLV 10 years ago paid $2,930 in dividends.⁠

XLV Risk

Risk pillarA78 out of 100Rank 4 of 25 in Health Care (Broad)
How much the fund’s monthly returns vary, scaled to a year.
14.8%
Annualised · 36 months to Oct 2026
How it’s calculated: standard deviation

The sample standard deviation of monthly total returns, multiplied by the square root of 12.

Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Total returns include reinvested distributions.

Return above 3-month US Treasury bills per unit of volatility.
0.78
vs 3-month T-bills · to Oct 2026
How it’s calculated: Sharpe ratio

Subtract each month’s Treasury-bill return from the fund’s monthly total return.

Divide the average of those excess returns by their sample standard deviation, then multiply by the square root of 12.

Uses up to 36 complete months, with at least 12 required. Each month uses the Treasury yield quoted at the end of the previous month.

The largest fall from a peak to the low that followed.
−17.1%
Trough May 2025
How it’s calculated: maximum drawdown

The largest percentage decline from an earlier peak, using total returns with reinvested distributions.

Uses up to five years through the last close, with at least 12 months required.

How strongly the fund’s returns move with its asset-class index.
0.56
vs its asset-class index
How it’s calculated: beta

The beta figure is supplied by FMP. The comparison index depends on the fund’s broad asset class.

FMP measures it over up to five years of monthly returns.

XLV Cost

Cheapest in Health Care (Broad)

$1,689

On $10,000 over 30 years. 7% growth a year before fees, expense ratio only.

  • XLV 0.08%

    $1,689

$10,000
30 years

Cost over time

  • XLV 0.08%
One line per fund, from year 0 to year 30. Use the arrow keys to read each point.$0$500$1K$1.5K$2K051015202530XLV $1,689

Year by year

YearXLV
10$147
20$575
30$1,689

Other funds in Health Care (Broad)

See others