It isn’t surprising that nearly 95% of Vanguard Health Care Fund (Trades, Portfolio)’s holdings are related to health care, drug manufacturing and medical technology. But there has been some jockeying for position within the Fund’s portfolio in the early months of 2015.
In the first quarter of 2015, Vanguard’s top two holdings – Boston Scientific Inc (BSX, Financial) and Astellas Pharma Inc (TSE:4503, Financial) – went untouched, but the Fund added to its next four largest stakes – Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMY, Financial), Merck & Co Inc (MRK, Financial), AstraZeneca PLC (LSE:AZN, Financial) and Eli Lilly and Co (LLY, Financial). The purchases didn’t change the rankings of the stakes, only their sizes.
The Fund bought 3,845,670 shares of Bristol-Myers, a pharmaceutical company based in New York, for an average price of $62.6 per share. Founded in 1887, Bristol-Meyers makes drugs to help in the treatment of cancer, HIV/AIDS, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hepatitis, rheumatoid arthritis and psychiatric disorders.
BMY sold for $65.32 per share at the close of trading on Monday.
Bristol-Myers has a market cap of $106.24 billion and an enterprise value of $106.23 billion. Its P/E is 48.0, its Price/Book is 6.9, and its Price/Sales is 6.7.
Five gurus – Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio), Ruane Cunniff (Trades, Portfolio), Dodge & Cox, Jean-Marie Eveillard (Trades, Portfolio) and Ronald Muhlenkamp (Trades, Portfolio) – have shares of Bristol-Myers in their portfolios. Ray Dalio (Trades, Portfolio) sold his stake in the fourth quarter of 2014.
Vanguard acquired 4,308,900 shares of New Jersey-based Merck & Co., one of the world’s seven largest pharmaceutical companies, for an average price of $59.34 per share. Founded in 1891, Merck publishes a series of medical reference books in addition to having had more new drugs approved than any other company.
Merck sold for $60.64 per share when trading concluded on Monday.
Merck has a market cap of $169.04 billion and an enterprise value of $174.87 billion. It has a P/E of 14.6, a Price/Book of 3.5 and a Price/Sales of 4.2.
Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio), PRIMECAP Management (Trades, Portfolio), Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio), Ray Dalio (Trades, Portfolio), James Barrow (Trades, Portfolio), Prem Watsa (Trades, Portfolio), Ruane Cunniff (Trades, Portfolio), Charles Brandes (Trades, Portfolio), Dodge & Cox and Jean-Marie Eveillard (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of Merck in their portfolios.
Founded in 1999, London-based AstraZeneca is the world’s seventh-largest pharmaceutical company in terms of prescription sales. Vanguard bought 3,462,499 shares of AstraZeneca for an average price of £45.93 (nearly $69.49 in American currency) per share.
AZN was selling for $68.51 per share at the end of trading Monday.
AstraZeneca has a market cap of $56.84 billion and an enterprise value of $61.45 billion. Its P/E is 71.1, its Price/Book is 50, and its Price/Sales is 3.5.
Vanguard acquired 2,909,460 shares of Eli Lilly, an Indiana-based pharmaceutical company that was founded in 1876 by a Civil War veteran for whom the company is named. Vanguard paid an average price of $71.19 per share.
Eli Lilly sold for $73.05 per share when the bell rang on Monday.
The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share on Monday. Shareholders of record on May 18 will receive the dividend in June.
Eli Lilly has a market cap of $79.64 billion and an enterprise value of $83.74 billion. It has a P/E of 35.7, a Price/Book of 5.2 and a Price/Sales of 4.0.
Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio), John Hussman (Trades, Portfolio), Ray Dalio (Trades, Portfolio), PRIMECAP Management (Trades, Portfolio), Joel Greenblatt (Trades, Portfolio), David Dreman (Trades, Portfolio), Dodge & Cox and Charles Brandes (Trades, Portfolio) have shares of Eli Lilly in their portfolios.
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