Edward Owens' Vanguard Health Care Fund Does More Shedding Than Adding in Third Quarter

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Nov 01, 2012
Pennsylvania-based Vanguard Health Care Fund has reduced its stake of five companies out of the seven total transactions it reported recently for its third quarter portfolio update.


The companies that experienced the reductions are: Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD, Financial), Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB, Financial), Pall Corp. (PLL, Financial), Onyx Pharmaceuticals (ONXX, Financial) and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN, Financial).


As the largest fund in the global health and biotech category, according to its website, Vanguard reduced the most in fluid management solutions provider, Pall Corp., by 61.56 percent of its shares with the company. This percentage accounts for the decrease of 600,000 shares from its 974,000 shares in the end of the second quarter, bringing the fund’s current holding down to 374,600 shares.





Headquartered in New York, Pall Corp. is currently trading at $64.54 per share, the stock up almost 3%, with a market cap of $7.08 billion.


After its fiscal year ended in July 31, 2012, Pall released a fourth quarter and full year fiscal report in September, which revealed increases in such areas as sales and earnings per share. Certain segments of the company, such as bio-pharmaceuticals, food and beverage and medical all underwent sales growth for the quarter.


With a positive price valuation trendline in a five-year time frame, Pall’s trading price almost reaches its 10-year high, according to one of its four Medium Warning Signs on GuruFocus. Two of the Medium Warning signs also denote its P/B and P/S ratios close to three year highs.


Its three Good Warning Signs indicate Pall’s strong financial strength, an expanding operating margin and a stock dividend yield close to its two-year high.


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Besides the reductions, Vanguard also added Agilent Technologies (A, Financial) to its portfolio, and increased its shares in Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (TEVA, Financial).


To view the rest of the data pertaining to Vanguard’s third quarter portfolio updates, visit its GuruFocus Stock Picks summary. You can also view Vanguard’s portfolio here, as well as the the fund’s undervalued stocks, top growth companies and high yield stocks of Vanguard Health Care Fund.