The CSL Limited (ASX: CSL) share price has been one of the most interesting to watch in 2023 out of the entire S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO). After all, this is one of the largest shares on the ASX by market capitalisation.
So to see the CSL share price down 5.1% this year so far when the broader ASX 200 is up by 6.35% is certainly of note.
But what makes this lacklustre performance all the more interesting is to note CSL's share price history. It's getting far away now, but some investors might remember the breakneck growth streak this healthcare giant went on for the decade before the pandemic began in early 2020.
Back in January 2010, CSL shares were going for around $32. By 2020, they had hit their (still reigning) all-time high of almost $342.70 a share.
However, the company has treaded water ever since and has rarely even gotten close to that high in the years that have passed by, as you can see below:
In fact, yesterday, CSL on Monday at $268.52 a share, which is more than 20% below that 2020 all-time high after more than three-and-a-half years.
So this ASX healthcare share probably has some despondent investors amongst its ranks today.
However, this also begs the question: does this share price make CSL a buy? Or is the company destined to tread water forever?
Is the CSL share price a buy today after losing 20% in three years?
Well, CSL shareholders will be delighted to hear that this company is almost universally expected to rise over the coming 12 months. In fact, as my Fool colleague Bronwyn covered last week, no fewer than 12 ASX brokers or experts have called CSL a no-brainer buy right now.
These brokers range from UBS, Morgans and Citi to Wilsons, Fidelity and Firetrail.
Morgans gave the company a 12-month share price target of $323. That's not quite back to the old all-time high, but I'm sure investors will take it.
Here's some of what Morgans had to say on this opinion:
A key portfolio holding and key sector pick, we believe CSL is poised to break-out this year, a COVID exit trade, offering double-digit recovery in earnings growth as plasma collections increase, new products get approved and influenza vaccine uptake increases around ongoing concerns about respiratory viruses, with shares offering good value trading around its long-term forward multiple of ~30x.
UBS was even more bullish, giving CSL a share price target of $340.
So no doubt CSL's patient investors will welcome this news with open arms. But we'll have to wait and see what the next 12 months and beyond bring for this ASX healthcare share.
