ClearBridge Investments, an investment management company, released its “ClearBridge Large Cap Growth Strategy” third quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the third quarter, increased volatility was caused by weak employment reports, leading to a brief correction in parts of the U.S. equity market. However, after a 50 basis point interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve, stocks rallied, with the S&P 500 Index rising by 5.89% and the small-cap Russell 2000 Index jumping by 9.27%. Leadership in equities broadened beyond the Magnificent Seven companies. In the quarter, profit-taking among large-cap companies and early signs of a possible market rotation caused growth stocks to underperform value stocks. The benchmark Russell 1000 Growth Index increased by 3.19%, falling behind the Russell 1000 Value Index, which saw a growth of 9.43%. The strategy outperformed in the quarter driven by broader participation among stable and cyclical growth positions in health care, communication services, and industrials. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
ClearBridge Large Cap Growth Strategy highlighted stocks like Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN), in the third quarter 2024 investor letter. Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) is a professional services company that provides management consulting, technology, and outsourcing services. The one-month return of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) was 7.55%, and its shares gained 40.12% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On October 3, 2024, Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) stock closed at $32.70 per share with a market capitalization of $5.028 billion.
ClearBridge Large Cap Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“One of the keys to recent results and to delivering consistent, long-term performance through market cycles is how we think about risk. During our investment diligence process and ongoing work on portfolio holdings, we focus attention on how our thesis could be wrong and what the implications for stock valuation would be under these scenarios. Being sensitive to valuation is at the core of our portfolio construction efforts and prevents us from owning a particular stock or theme where we are not comfortable with the price. Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN), a new addition in the second quarter, is a good example. The stock was on our whiteboard for several years, and we remained patient until volatility created an attractive entry point. We further added to the position in the third quarter.”
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Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 68 hedge fund portfolios held Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) at the end of the second quarter which was 57 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) 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 Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) and shared the list of best stocks to buy for medium term. ClearBridge Large Cap Value Strategy established a position in Accenture plc (NYSE:ACN) during Q2 2024, due to its strong position in technology services and exposure to generative AI. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 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.