The Eaton Vance Worldwide Health Sciences Fund (Trades, Portfolio) primarily invests in companies engaged in the discovery, development, production or distribution of products and services related to scientific advances in health care.
Managed by Jason Kritzer, the fund initiated three new positions during the final three months of 2017: Royal Phillips NV (PHG, Financial), Anthem Inc. (ANTM, Financial) and Agilent Technologies Inc. (A, Financial).
Royal Phillips
Kritzer invested in 357,605 shares of Royal Phillips, a Dutch health technology systems and light solutions provider. The company’s share price averaged $40.44 per share during the quarter. With this transaction, the fund manager added 1.27% to the portfolio.
Royal Phillips’ profitability ranks 7 out of 10, suggesting good short-term growth potential. The company’s profit margins outperform over 60% of global competitors. Additionally, Royal Phillips’ Greenblatt return on capital ranks higher than 81% of global diversified industrial companies.
Anthem
Kritzer invested in 51,042 shares of Anthem for an average price of $200.30 per share. With this transaction, the fund manager increased his portfolio 1.1%.
Anthem, a major U.S. managed-care organization, announced it added Hewlett Packard Enterprise Inc. (HPE) President Antonio Neri to its board of directors on Dec. 7, 2017, according to a company press release. Although the company has a five-star predictability rank, Anthem’s profitability ranks a modest 5, driven primarily by contracting operating margins.
Agilent Technologies
Kritzer invested in 153,849 shares of Agilent Technologies, a medical research company engaged in life sciences, diagnostics and applied chemical markets. Agilent’s share price averaged $66.74 per share during the quarter. The fund manager increased his portfolio 0.98% with this transaction.
Agilent’s profitability ranks 6 out of 10: while the company has a strong Piotroski F-score and good operating margins, its three-year revenue growth of 4.60% underperforms 55% of global competitors.
See also
On Jan. 30, Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN, Financial) CEO Jeff Bezos, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A, Financial)(BRK.B, Financial) CEO Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM, Financial) CEO Jamie Dimon announced “a partnership to cut health-care costs and improve services for their U.S. employees,” according to CNBC. The announced partnership led to sharp price declines in the health care plans industry. Among the fund’s new buys from the latest quarter, Anthem declined the most, shedding 5.76% of its previous closing price of $257.02. Royal Phillips and Agilent traded 3.65% and 1.81% lower from their respective previous closing prices.
Disclosure: I do not have positions in the stocks mentioned in the article.
