Meridian Funds, managed by ArrowMark Partners, released its “Meridian Hedged Equity Fund” fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The direction of interest rates, inflation, and the outcome of the US election all had a significant impact on the markets throughout the quarter. In the quarter, the fund appreciated 0.07% (net), trailing its benchmark, the S&P 500 Index, which returned 2.41%, and its secondary benchmark, the CBOE S&P 500 Buy/Write Index’s 5.79% return. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to determine its best picks for 2024.
In its fourth quarter 2024 investor letter, Meridian Hedged Equity Fund emphasized stocks such as Coty Inc. (NYSE:COTY). Coty Inc. (NYSE:COTY) is a beauty company engages in the manufacturing, marketing, and distribution of beauty products. The one-month return of Coty Inc. (NYSE:COTY) was -7.33%, and its shares lost 54.88% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On March 11, 2025, Coty Inc. (NYSE:COTY) stock closed at $5.69 per share with a market capitalization of $4.96 billion.
Meridian Hedged Equity Fund stated the following regarding Coty Inc. (NYSE:COTY) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Coty Inc. (NYSE:COTY) is a global beauty company with a growing portfolio of prestige and consumer brands. We hold Coty for its transformation potential through strategic investments in brand development and expansion within high-growth beauty markets. Performance this quarter was impacted by broader retail headwinds, as distributors in the U.S., Australia, and Asian retail channels maintained cautious inventory positions. Weak sales in China further pressured results. Despite these challenges, management implemented cost-saving measures to protect margins while maintaining strategic growth initiatives. We anticipate sales momentum to reaccelerate, supported by holiday season performance and continued expansion of the prestige portfolio.”
A close-up of a woman’s face wearing a beauty product, highlighting the company’s range of luxury items.
Coty Inc. (NYSE:COTY) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 28 hedge fund portfolios held Coty Inc. (NYSE:COTY) at the end of the fourth quarter which was 26 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Coty Inc. (NYSE:COTY) 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.
In another article, we discussed Coty Inc. (NYSE:COTY) and shared the list of best low priced stocks to invest in. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 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.