ClearBridge Investments, an investment management company, released its “ClearBridge Large Cap Growth Strategy” first quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The majority of growth indexes entered correction territory during the quarter, due to pressure from the chaotic tariff implementation, concerns about a weakening U.S. economy, and increased inflation. Against this backdrop, the strategy outperformed the benchmark, driven by diversified stock selection and an underweight exposure to the Magnificent Seven. The S&P 500 Index declined 4.27% in the quarter and the benchmark Russell 1000 Growth Index (RLG) fell 9.97%. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025.
In its first quarter 2025 investor letter, ClearBridge Large Cap Growth Strategy emphasized stocks such as Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE). Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) offers market infrastructure, data services, and technology solutions for financial institutions, corporations, and government entities. The one-month return of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) was -8.14%, and its shares gained 14.50% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On April 7, 2025, Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) stock closed at $154.65 per share with a market capitalization of $88.86 billion.
ClearBridge Large Cap Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:
“To help fund these additions, we exited our position in Alcon, a medical device company focused on eye care products and solutions for surgical procedures and consumer use, and Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE), an operator of securities exchanges and provider of fixed income, data services and mortgage technology solutions. We purchased Alcon in 2020 after surgical disruptions due to COVID-19 created a unique buying opportunity. At the time, Alcon had major positive cycles in both of its core businesses as well as the opportunity to expand margins by investing in new manufacturing and leveraging its commercial investment. We sold down the position gradually as the stock approached what we viewed as fair value. Similarly, we sold ICE as the stock has re-rated higher due to expectations for positive change in housing fundamentals supporting its mortgage business.”
An investor intently focused on the stock exchange monitor.
Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 91 hedge fund portfolios held Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) at the end of the fourth quarter compared to 84 in the third quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) 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 covered Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (NYSE:ICE) in another article, where we shared the list of best financial stocks to buy according to billionaires. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2025 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.