Publicly Traded Health Care Companies Increased Shareholder Payouts By 315% Over 20 Years

Shareholder payouts made by health care companies listed on the Standard and Poor’s (S&P) 500 health care index increased 315% between 2001 and 2022, according to a recent analysis. The payouts increased from $54 billion in 2001 to $170 billion in 2022.;;

About 80% of the shareholder payouts were made by 19 companies, according to the analysis. On average, S&P 500 companies in the health care sector allocated 95% of net income to shareholder payouts. ;

Payouts were highest in four subindustries: the pharmaceutical subindustry accounted for 45% of the total payouts; the . . .