Unless something untoward happens later this session, the CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price will record a strong monthly gain in April.
As things stand, the biotherapeutics company's shares have risen a sizeable 5% since the turn of the month.
This compares favourably to the performance of the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), which has recorded a respectable gain of 1.7% month to date.
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Why is the CSL share price smashing the ASX 200?
While there hasn't been any real news out of the company to boost the CSL share price in April, there was a European investor site tour at the end of March that went down well with analysts.
For example, early in April, analysts at Morgan Stanley responded to the tour by reiterating their overweight rating and $339.00 price target on the company's shares. This suggests that there could still be plenty of room for them to climb higher despite April's heroics.
Goldman Sachs was also at the event and was pleased with what it heard. It commented:
Across site tours, presentations and various conversations throughout Marburg (Germany) and Bern (Switzerland), our key conclusion was that, having conducted an extensive program of expansion/improvement across fractionation and R&D efforts, CSL is now well positioned for a medium-term period of less capital-intensive growth (supporting our views that the current ROIC trough should markedly improve from here).
What else boosted its shares?
Also likely to be giving the CSL share price a lift in April was increased demand for defensive stocks after global recession fears grew.
Given that the healthcare sector is seen as defensive, investors appear to have been piling into some of the top stocks from this side of the market. This has led to the S&P/ASX 200 Health Care index recording a market-beating gain of 4% month to date.
