2 No-Brainer Healthcare Stocks to Buy With $500 Right Now

Looking for a good area in which to invest? Consider the healthcare sector. People must have healthcare. And with aging populations, the demand for healthcare products and services should grow significantly.

There are plenty of great investment alternatives in the healthcare sector. You won't need a boatload of money to get started, either. Here are two no-brainer healthcare stocks to buy with $500 right now.

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1. Vertex Pharmaceuticals

I really like Vertex Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: VRTX). It's one of the top healthcare stocks in my portfolio. If I didn't already own this biotech stock, I wouldn't hesitate to buy it. Why? Four reasons especially stand out.

First, Vertex enjoys a monopoly. Only five approved therapies restore the CFTR protein whose mutations cause cystic fibrosis (CF). Vertex markets all of them. Its top product, Trikafta/Kaftrio, raked in sales of $10.2 billion last year. The company won U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in December 2024 for Alyftrek, which holds the potential to be its most powerful and profitable CF therapy yet.

Second, CF isn't Vertex's only growth opportunity. The company is still in the early stages of the commercial launch of Casgevy, a gene-editing therapy that is a one-time treatment for sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia. Vertex recently won FDA approval for the non-opioid drug Journavx (suzetrigine) in treating acute pain. I think both Casgevy and Journavx have blockbuster potential.

Third, Vertex's pipeline looks very promising. The big biotech innovator is evaluating suzetrigine in a late-stage study for treating painful diabetic peripheral neuropathy. It has two late-stage candidates targeting kidney diseases -- inaxaplin for APOL1-mediated kidney disease and povetacicept for IgA nephropathy. Vertex is also evaluating VX-880 in a phase 3 study as a potential cure for severe type 1 diabetes.

Fourth, I expect Vertex will likely further expand its pipeline through business development deals. The company certainly has the money to do so, with a cash stockpile totaling $6.1 billion at the end of 2024. Acquisitions and partnerships have been a key part of Vertex's success in the past.

2. Pfizer

Buying one share of Vertex Pharmaceuticals will cost you around $472. That would leave you roughly $28 left over, which is more than enough to scoop up a share of Pfizer (NYSE: PFE).

Admittedly, Pfizer doesn't have the same level of growth prospects as Vertex does. The company faces a patent cliff over the next few years as multiple drugs including Eliquid, Ibrance, Xeljanz, and Xtandi lose exclusivity. However, I think this big pharma stock is a great pick for income and value investors.

Let's start with Pfizer's forward dividend yield of 6.64%. The company expects to maintain and grow this dividend over the long run. There aren't many better dividends in the healthcare sector than what Pfizer offers.

This stock is also a bargain, in my opinion. Pfizer's shares trade at 8.7 times forward earnings. By comparison, the average forward earnings multiple for the S&P 500 healthcare sector is 17.8. Pfizer's price-to-earnings-to-growth (PEG) ratio, based on five-year earnings growth projections, is a super-low 0.18, according to data from financial markets and infrastructure company LSEG.

This PEG ratio hints that Pfizer's growth prospects could be better than many expect. I think that could be the case. The company has invested heavily in recent years in acquiring other drugmakers. Although some investors might question how much Pfizer spent on those deals, it's better positioned for the future now than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic. Pfizer won't deliver spectacular growth, but I anticipate the stock will generate attractive total returns with modest growth combined with its juicy dividend.

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Keith Speights has positions in Pfizer and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Pfizer and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.