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Many investors view the healthcare sector as a safe haven when the stock market is turbulent. That's understandable. The demand for healthcare products and services typically holds up very well regardless of what's happening with the market or the economy.
Some healthcare stocks are better picks than others. And you won't need a fortune to invest in a few of the best. Here are three no-brainer healthcare stocks to buy with $1,000 right now.
1. AbbVie
Many stocks have pulled back significantly in the first few months of 2025 amid worries about the Trump administration's trade policies. But not AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV). Shares of the big drugmaker are up around 20% year to date.
AbbVie's product lineup is led by blockbuster drugs targeting autoimmune diseases, with Rinvoq and Skyrizi delivering especially strong sales growth. The company's cancer drugs Imbruvica and Venclexta are also big winners. AbbVie's 2020 acquisition of Allergan made it a top player in the aesthetics market as well, with top-sellers including Botox and Juvederm.
You can pick up one share of AbbVie for around $212 as of this writing. That's an attractive price considering the company's growth prospects. AbbVie's price-to-earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio based on five-year earnings growth projections is a super-low 0.45, according to financial data and infrastructure provider LSEG.
To add icing to the cake, AbbVie offers a nice forward dividend yield of 3.09%. The company is also a Dividend King with a track record of 53 consecutive years of dividend increases.
2. Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX) has delivered an even bigger gain than AbbVie in 2025 with its shares soaring more than 20% year to date while the overall market sank. Part of Vertex's attraction is that it commands a virtual monopoly in treating the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis (CF).
However, Vertex has also benefited from two key U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals in recent months. The FDA gave a thumbs-up to the company's newest CF drug, Alyftrek, on Dec. 20, 2024. It approved Vertex's non-opioid drug Journavx for treating acute pain on Jan. 30, 2025.
I fully expect both of these drugs will be huge growth drivers for Vertex. Alyftrek is taken once per day, a more convenient dosing than the company's current flagship CF therapy Trikafta. Vertex also won't have to pay as much in royalties for the new drug. Journavx has an especially big market opportunity because of the addictive qualities and negative side effects associated with opioids.