5 Best Pet Stocks to Buy Now

2. IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 48

Westbrook, Maine-based IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) is a global leader in veterinary diagnostics, software, and water microbiology testing with a history that dates back to 1983. It employs nearly 11,000 people and offers solutions and products to customers in more than 175 countries and territories.

On November 1, IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) released its financial results for Q3 2023. Its revenues increased by 9% y-o-y to $916 million, while its net income increased by 17% y-o-y to $212 million. It generated a normalized EPS of $2.53, which exceeded consensus estimates by $0.16.

As of Q3 2023, 48 of the 910 elite hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) shares, valued at $2.3 billion. Terry Smith’s Fundsmith LLP was its largest hedge fund shareholder with ownership of 3.0 million shares valued at $1.3 billion.

In its Q2 2023 Baron Asset Fund investor letter, Baron Funds, an investment management company, made the following comments about IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX):

“We retain conviction in IDEXX’s long-term opportunity. The company’s competitive position remains outstanding. We expect new proprietary product innovations and field sales force expansion to be meaningful contributors to growth in 2024. We see increasing evidence that secular trends around pet ownership and pet care spending have been structurally accelerated, which should help support IDEXX’s growth rate over the long term.”