The CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price is down 1.5% at $260 per share in afternoon trade on Wednesday. It has slipped 5% this week, having fallen from $271 at Friday's market close price.
Meanwhile, the S&P/ASX 200 Health Care Index (ASX: XHJ) has fallen 3% in the same time. The correlation between the two is seen below.
CSL standout healthcare pick: fund manager
CSL's management in particular impresses Sage Capital fund manager Sean Fenton. He said that whilst there are plenty of great Aussie healthcare companies available, CSL is his pick.
"Healthcare is really tough, in the sense that there's actually a whole bunch of really great Australian companies that have been very successful in healthcare," he said, speaking to Livewire's Buy Hold Sell.
"[I]t's hard to go past the biggest one, CSL, who have grown, exceptionally, in their area," he told Livewire.
The fund manager went on to comment on several of CSL's feats over the years. He noted its business strategy successfully diversified away from IVIG and haemophilia products into niche categories.
That's led to "a lot of value add" to the CSL share price he said.
And they continue to do that. Continue to reinvest, grow their market. Yeah. Their recent acquisition hasn't completed, Vifor, I think, will also prove to be quite an effective one. So, yeah. Really hard to go past them.
Analysts appear constructive too according to the data. Around 87% of brokers say it's a buy, with the remaining 13% presently saying it's a hold, according to Bloomberg data.
In the last 12 months, the CSL share price has slipped 13% into the red, or 10% this year to date.
