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Data last updated: Jul 06, 2026
Dividend Yield: 6.15%
Annual Dividend: $12.98 per share
Ex-Dividend Date: 2026-03-30
Dividend Frequency: quarterly
Sector: Financial Services
Years of Dividend History: 25
The Vanguard Health Care Fund Investor Shares dividend comes from an actively managed fund with over 25 years of history, holding companies across pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, and global healthcare research. The fund currently yields 6.15%, with a trailing annual dividend rate of $12.9752 per share paid quarterly. The next ex-dividend date is March 30, 2026. With a beta of 0.57, VGHCX stock moves considerably less than the broader market, which suits income-focused investors who want healthcare exposure without sharp price swings.
Vanguard Health Care Fund Investor Shares pays out dividends as a fund, making the payout ratio not applicable (fund/ETF). Vanguard Health Care Fund Investor Shares dividend safety rests on the underlying portfolio's income and capital gains distributions rather than a corporate earnings stream, since the fund passes through returns from its holdings in pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, and healthcare research. The key pressure point is sector concentration: all assets sit exclusively in healthcare, so a broad downturn in that industry directly affects what the fund has available to distribute.
Vanguard Health Care Fund Investor Shares dividend history shows a CAGR of 7.2% per year from 1998 to 2024. Per-share payments grew from $3.9200 in 1998 to $23.7995 in 2024 (2025 and 2026 figures are partial years and excluded from the CAGR calculation). The largest single-year increase in the window was 120.5% in 2013, though the history also contains at least one year-over-year decline exceeding 5%, which reflects the variable nature of fund distributions tied to portfolio performance.
| Period | CAGR | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-Year | -8.8% | $11.59 (2022) | $8.80 (2025) |
| 5-Year | -12.5% | $17.18 (2020) | $8.80 (2025) |
| 10-Year | -6.9% | $17.97 (2015) | $8.80 (2025) |
VGHCX stock fits income-focused investors who want high current yield from a diversified healthcare portfolio and can accept year-to-year distribution variability. The yield is classified as high (above 4%), currently at 6.15%, though that sits below the 5-year average of 7.4%, meaning recent income has been lighter than the fund's own historical norm. The 7.2% long-term dividend CAGR is respectable, but the absence of consecutive annual increases means this is not a dividend-growth story in the traditional sense. What an investor gets is broad exposure to global healthcare across pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, and research institutions, paired with a low beta of 0.57. The trade-off is unpredictable year-to-year distributions and full concentration in a single sector.
| Payment Date | Amount per Share |
|---|---|
| 2026-03-30 | $7.6578 |
| 2025-12-19 | $5.3174 |
| 2025-03-28 | $3.4819 |
| 2024-12-20 | $17.6418 |
| 2024-03-27 | $6.1577 |
| 2023-12-27 | $8.2529 |
| 2023-03-28 | $6.7329 |
| 2022-12-28 | $3.8742 |
| 2022-03-28 | $7.7176 |
| 2021-12-29 | $15.5479 |
| Year | Total Dividends |
|---|---|
| 2026 | $7.6578 |
| 2025 | $8.7993 |
| 2024 | $23.7995 |
| 2023 | $14.9858 |
| 2022 | $11.5918 |
Project income from VGHCX with the VGHCX dividend calculator or track your full portfolio with the dividend tracker.