Trump bought these health care stocks in 2026; should you?
President Donald Trump has been trading health care stocks unusually frequently in 2026.
Across the first three months of the year, his accounts ran 377 separate health care trades, a mix of buys and sells, worth at least $13 million and as much as $37 million by the disclosed ranges.
That activity sits inside a much larger pattern.
The accounts made 3,642 total transactions between January 6 and March 30, CBS News reported after analyzing the president's latest financial disclosure.
The Trump Organization says outside advisers run the accounts and that the president and his family play no role in the investments.
For a regular investor, the interesting question is whether Trump's most-traded health care names are actually worth owning right now.
How Trump's most-traded health care stocks performed in 2026
Most of Trump's heavily traded health care names are down. A few have delivered standout gains. Knowing which is which, and why, is the whole game.
Here is the ranked picture, by number of trades, with the disclosed dollar range and year-to-date (YTD) price move for each.
Trump's 10 most-traded health care stocks in 2026 at a glance
Stock (Ticker) | Trades | Disclosed value range | YTD price move |
Abbott Laboratories (ABT) | 16 | $1,038,016 – $2,470,000 | Down 28.81% |
UnitedHealth Group (UNH) | 16 | $1,282,016 – $5,805,000 | Up 19.19% |
Boston Scientific (BSX) | 11 | $1,020,011 – $2,225,000 | Down 52.18% |
Intuitive Surgical (ISRG) | 10 | $150,010 – $425,000 | Down 27.62% |
Eli Lilly (LLY) | 10 | $382,010 – $880,000 | Up 1.69% |
AbbVie (ABBV) | 10 | $164,010 – $460,000 | Down 5.59% |
Stryker (SYK) | 9 | $1,247,009 – $2,680,000 | Down 11.60% |
Humana (HUM) | 8 | $149,008 – $460,000 | Up 36.36% |
Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) | 7 | $98,007 – $295,000 | Down 0.11% |
Waters Corporation (WAT) | 7 | $331,007 – $815,000 | Down 6.94% |
Source: trade counts and dollar ranges are from the president's financial disclosure || year-to-date prices were compiled by me.
UnitedHealth's range stretches widest because of one large single sale disclosed in the "$1,000,001 - $5,000,000" bracket, layered on top of many smaller transactions.
Now to the part that matters for your money: what is actually moving each stock.
Why UnitedHealth and Humana are the group's biggest winners
UnitedHealth is the clearest comeback story here.
The stock is up more than 19% YTD after a brutal stretch in 2025 that sent the stock crashing.
CEO Andrew Witty stepped down in May 2025, the board brought back former chief Stephen Hemsley, and the Department of Justice opened an investigation into the company's Medicare billing practices. All of which contributed to the company's decline.
The turning point came after UnitedHealth's first-quarter results:
Revenue rose 2% to $111.7 billion and adjusted earnings reached $7.23 a share, beating estimates. Its medical care ratio, the share of each premium dollar spent paying claims, improved to 83.9%.
Why Humana stock jumped more than 36% in 2026
Humana is the biggest percentage gainer, up more than 36% YTD, and the drivers were regulatory relief, a better-than-expected 2027 Medicare Advantage payment rate from CMS, and a jump in Humana's top-tier Star ratings. All of which eased the fears that had crushed the stock in 2025, according to 24/7 Wall St.
Why most of the medical device names fell hard
The device makers have had a rougher year.
Boston Scientific is the worst performer in the group, down more than 52% YTD.
The company repeatedly cut its 2026 growth guidance, with CEO Michael Mahoney pointing to slowing demand for its Watchman heart implant,according to MedTech Dive. An FDA Class 1 recall on certain pacemakers added pressure.
Abbott is down nearly 29% YTD. Its $23 billion purchase of cancer-screening firm Exact Sciences, reported by Yahoo Finance, added earnings dilution, and its FreeStyle Libre glucose sensor faces an FDA recall and stiff competition.
Why Intuitive Surgical and Stryker also slid
Intuitive Surgical, maker of the da Vinci surgical robot, fell about 28% YTD despite growing revenue. The stock was priced for perfection, and GLP-1 weight-loss drugs are cutting into bariatric surgery volumes, The Motley Fool reported.
Stryker dropped about 12% YTD after a March cyberattack disrupted manufacturing and dented first-quarter sales, TIKR reported.
Why the pharma names landed in the middle
The drug stocks in the group mostly traded at flat or modestly low levels.
Eli Lilly is essentially even on the year, up under 2%, even as revenue jumped 56% in the first quarter on Mounjaro and Zepbound demand.
The FDA approved its oral GLP-1 pill, now branded Foundayo,according to Lilly's earnings report. The stock stalled because its valuation had already priced in heavy growth, and a recent employer survey raised questions about future coverage.
Related: President Donald Trump owns roughly $5M in surging AI stock
AbbVie slipped about 6% YTD as biosimilar competition kept eroding Humira sales, though newer drugs Skyrizi and Rinvoq are picking up the slack, Simply Wall St noted.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals is flat, with its dominant cystic fibrosis franchise offsetting slower early uptake of newer products. Waters fell about 7% YTD as lab-equipment demand stayed soft.
What this means before you buy any of them
Just because Trump heavily traded some stocks doesn't mean you should buy them. Each of these stocks moved for company-specific reasons that don't necessarily have anything to do with who traded them.
Three things are worth weighing before you act:
- The winners already ran. UnitedHealth and Humana have rebounded sharply, so much of the good news may be priced in. Berkshire Hathaway exited its UnitedHealth stake entirely in the first quarter.
- The losers have real problems. Boston Scientific and Abbott are cheaper, but guidance cuts, recalls and dilution are not quick fixes.
- Open risks remain. The DOJ probe into UnitedHealth has no resolution timeline, and that overhang alone can move the stock.
How some of these companies tie to Trump beyond the disclosure
A few of these names connect to the president in ways that go past his trade ledger.
In an interview I did with Nancy Levine Stearns, founder of Impactivize, who has been tracking several of these companies, she flagged a confluence around UnitedHealth and the administration's Freedom 250 events.
UnitedHealth, she noted, was "a newer" and "a late addition to the sponsor list," a confluence I referred to as peculiar, given the regulatory friction the insurer is under.
On Eli Lilly, Stearns pointed to CEO Dave Ricks appearing in a video saying the company was a "proud participant" in the initiative, even though, she said, a Lilly spokesperson told her the company is "not a sponsor" and has no financial commitment to it.
Trump's pattern of praising stocks he has traded
Here is where it gets relevant for investors watching the timing.
Trump has a documented habit of publicly praising companies whose shares he has bought.
He purchased between $1 million and $5 million of Dell stock in February 2026, then days later urged Americans to "go out and buy a Dell." Dell later won a $9.7 billion Pentagon contract, and the stock has soared.
Eli Lilly fits a similar shape:
Trump's accounts bought as much as $680,000 in Lilly stock early in 2026 as his agencies advanced drug-pricing policies that benefited the company, KFF Health News reported.
At a White House event, Trump praised Ricks as "one of the hottest people in the world," according to the Senate Democrats Newsroom.
Why UnitedHealth's position stands out
UnitedHealth is the more complicated case.
The company is fighting a Department of Justice criminal and civil investigation into its Medicare billing, with no resolution timeline.
It is also a recent addition to the Freedom 250 sponsor list, an initiative that several public figures, including Congressman Jared Huffman, have openly criticized, according to an exclusive by Impactivize.
The Trump Organization says outside advisers handle the trades and the family directs none of them.
And although none of this proves that anything inappropriate is happening, for an investor, here's what to know:
When a company under regulatory pressure aligns closely with the administration that holds that leverage, the alignment itself becomes a variable worth watching.
The bottom line for investors
Treat this list as a starting point for research, not a confirmation of stocks to trade.
The names that look cheapest, like Boston Scientific and Abbott, carry the heaviest operational baggage.
The ones that have rallied hardest, like UnitedHealth and Humana, now demand the most scrutiny on valuation, with UnitedHealth still carrying an unresolved legal overhang.
Political proximity is not a fundamental signal either. Earnings, guidance, regulation, and valuation are.
Weigh those first, and use the financial disclosure report as a prompt to dig deeper before deciding for yourself whether any of these names belong in your portfolio.
Related: Trump's brokerage just bet big on these chip and AI names
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This story was originally published June 21, 2026 at 10:17 AM.