ClearBridge Investments, an investment management company, released its “ClearBridge Value Equity Strategy” first quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The strategy outperformed the Russell 1000 Value Index in the first quarter. On an absolute basis, the strategy has gained 9 out of eleven sectors it invested in during the quarter. Financial and utilities sectors were the leading contributors while the real estate and healthcare sectors detracted. Overall stock selection and sector allocation contributed to returns relatively. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
ClearBridge Value Equity Strategy highlighted stocks like Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB), in the first quarter 2024 investor letter. Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers therapies for treating neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. The one-month return of Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) was -2.23%, and its shares lost 19.80% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On July 1, 2024, Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) stock closed at $231.77 per share with a market capitalization of $33.317 billion.
ClearBridge Value Equity Strategy stated the following regarding Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“Several of our health care companies also faced idiosyncratic challenges during the quarter. For example, Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB), a biotechnology company developing treatments for Alzheimer’s and other neurological disorders, came under pressure after reporting lower than expected revenue growth for the fourth quarter due to weaker than expected sales from its multiple sclerosis and spinal muscular atrophy drugs. However, we believe these challenges are transitory and see room for improvement through its rollout of new products and management’s cost-cutting initiatives.”
A patient receiving physical therapy for a neurological disease.
Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 51 hedge fund portfolios held Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) at the end of the first quarter which was 51 in the previous quarter. The total revenue of Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) in the first quarter was $2.3 billion, representing a decrease of 7% in actual and constant currency. While we acknowledge the potential of Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
We discussed Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) in another article and shared Morgan Stanley’s top stock picks for 2024. Patient Capital Opportunity Equity Strategy added Biogen Inc. (NASDAQ:BIIB) to its portfolio in Q1 2024. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
