ClearBridge Investments, an investment management company, released its “ClearBridge Large Cap Growth Strategy” first quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. The Strategy outperformed its benchmark, the Russell 1000 Growth Index, in the quarter due to active management of its mega-cap exposure and strong stock selection in the growth universe. The Strategy posted gains across the 10 sectors in which it was invested, on an absolute basis. Overall stock selection contributed to performance on a relative basis. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
ClearBridge Large Cap Growth Strategy featured stocks like Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the first quarter 2024 investor letter. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) is a global cybersecurity solutions provider headquartered in Santa Clara, California. On April 4, 2024, Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) stock closed at $265.20 per share. One-month return of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) was -5.35%, and its shares gained 38.18% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) has a market capitalization of $85.686 billion.
ClearBridge Large Cap Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“Given our view that the overall market looks expensive, mostly due to mega cap valuations, the low likelihood that technology can continue to deliver well above market returns and an expected slowdown in economic growth, risk management has guided our recent positioning activity. We have been consistently trimming from the select bucket and redeploying into undervalued stable and cyclical names, while also being cognizant of position sizing to maintain the latitude to add to names when prices become attractive.
During the first quarter, we continued to trim IT stocks into strength to manage risk while also adding to high-conviction positions. For example, we trimmed our active weight in Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) after the information security software maker lowered its guidance in part due to a new emphasis on providing short-term discounts on product bundles to pursue its consolidation opportunity more aggressively. While this strategy should position the company more strongly in the future, it potentially increases volatility in operating results in the near-to-medium term.”
A cutting-edge computer lab full of IT experts monitoring the security of multiple systems.
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. At the end of the fourth quarter, Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) was held by 77 hedge fund portfolios, compared to 79 in the previous quarter, according to our database.
We discussed Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in another article and shared the list of biggest software companies in the US. 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.
