Data as of Sep 12, 2026. Both funds on the fields they both publish, from the same sources.
VHT vs VO: how they differ
VHT and VO hold 8% of their weight in the same names, and VHT returned more over the year.
Vanguard Health Care Index Fund and Vanguard Mid-Cap Index Fund.
What they hold in common
By the books each fund has filed, VHT and VO hold 8% of their money in the same securities at the same weight.
| Holding | VHT | VO |
|---|---|---|
| Cardinal Health Inc | 0.74% | 0.54% |
| Cencora Inc | 0.79% | 0.51% |
| Edwards Lifesciences Corp | 0.80% | 0.51% |
| Humana Inc | 0.58% | 0.46% |
| Becton Dickinson & Co | 0.66% | 0.41% |
| IDEXX Laboratories Inc | 0.71% | 0.40% |
| Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc | 0.63% | 0.39% |
| Agilent Technologies Inc | 0.61% | 0.36% |
| Waters Corp | 0.60% | 0.36% |
| IQVIA Holdings Inc | 0.49% | 0.31% |
| Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc | 1.01% | 0.31% |
| Biogen Inc | 0.46% | 0.31% |
| Only in VHT | Only in VO |
|---|---|
| Eli Lilly & Co 14.07% | Vertiv Holdings Co 1.23% |
| Johnson & Johnson 8.48% | Western Digital Corp 1.07% |
| AbbVie Inc 6.10% | Seagate Technology Holdings PLC 1.05% |
| UnitedHealth Group Inc 5.46% | Quanta Services Inc 1.05% |
| Merck & Co Inc 4.67% | Howmet Aerospace Inc 1.04% |
| Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc 2.93% | Cummins Inc 0.95% |
| Amgen Inc 2.87% | Datadog Inc 0.84% |
| Gilead Sciences Inc 2.64% | Bloom Energy Corp 0.79% |
Weight overlap is an ETFIQ calculation: for every security both funds hold, the smaller of the two weights, summed. Above 50%, holding both is close to holding one of them twice. Holdings dated Jun 30, 2026 and May 31, 2026.
| VHT Vanguard Health Care Index Fund | VO Vanguard Mid-Cap Index Fund | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it sits | Core index fund | Core index fund |
| Issuer | Vanguard | Vanguard |
| What it is | Health Care | Mid-Cap |
| Total return, 1 year | +21.6% | +12.0% |
| S&P 500 over the same days | +17.5% | +17.5% |
| Gap to the S&P 500 | +4.1 pts | −5.5 pts |
| Expense ratio | 0.09% | 0.03% |
| Already in the S&P 500 | 85.6% | 91.4% |
| Holdings | 401 | 282 |
VHT in plain words
VHT is an index equity fund tracking the Health Care. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +21.6% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.09% a year. By its holdings filed for May 31, 2026, 86% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 401 positions, with the top ten at 52.0%. It sat 5.7% below its high of Aug 19, 2026 on Sep 11, 2026.
VO in plain words
VO is an index equity fund tracking the Mid-Cap. Over the year to Sep 11, 2026 it returned +12.0% with distributions reinvested, against +17.5% for the S&P 500 and +23.0% for the Nasdaq-100. The prospectus expense ratio is 0.03% a year. By its holdings filed for Jun 30, 2026, 91% of the fund by weight is stocks the S&P 500 also holds, across 282 positions, with the top ten at 9.6%. It sat 4.1% below its high of Aug 14, 2026 on Sep 11, 2026.
Questions people ask
- Which returned more over the last year, VHT or VO?
- In the year to Sep 12, 2026, with distributions reinvested, VHT returned +21.6% and VO returned +12.0%, so VHT returned more. One year is one year; the longer windows are in the table.
- Which is cheaper, VHT or VO?
- VHT charges 0.09% a year and VO charges 0.03%, so VO is cheaper. Fees come from each fund's prospectus.
- How much do VHT and VO overlap with the S&P 500?
- By their latest filed holdings, 86% of VHT and 91% of VO by weight is stocks the S&P 500 already holds. Between the two funds, 8% of their books are the same securities at the same weight.
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Where these figures came from
ETFIQ links to the documents behind every figure. It is not affiliated with any issuer, and a link is not an endorsement.
Cite this page. ETFIQ, VHT against VO, data as of Sep 12, 2026. https://etfiq.com/compare/any/VHT-VO Free to use with attribution; the underlying files are at Open data.
A comparison is not a recommendation. Standards and sources