Baron Funds, an investment management company, released its “Baron Health Care Fund” third quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The fund appreciated 5.81%% (Institutional Shares) in the quarter compared to a 6.74% gain for the Russell 3000 Health Care Index (benchmark) and a 6.23% gain for the Russell 3000 Index (the Index). Since inception, the fund appreciated 13.02% on an annualized basis compared to an 11.47% gain for the benchmark and a 14.03% gain for the index. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Baron Health Care Fund highlighted stocks like Insmed Incorporated (NASDAQ:INSM) in its Q3 2024 investor letter. Insmed Incorporated (NASDAQ:INSM) is a biopharmaceutical company that develops therapeutic products for patients with serious and rare diseases. The one-month return of Insmed Incorporated (NASDAQ:INSM) was -5.77%, and its shares gained 169.01% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On October 31, 2024, Insmed Incorporated (NASDAQ:INSM) stock closed at $67.28 per share with a market capitalization of $12.081 billion.
Baron Health Care Fund stated the following regarding Insmed Incorporated (NASDAQ:INSM) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“We purchased Insmed Incorporated (NASDAQ:INSM), a biopharmaceutical company with three lead drugs that could collectively generate $8 billion-plus of peak sales. We are most excited about brensocatib, which recently reported data in non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (NCFBE), which is a $5 billion-plus opportunity. Based on our research, the data is a game-changer for patients both in terms of a 20% reduction in pulmonary exacerbations and an improvement in lung function. We think there could be as many as 500,000 NCFBE patients in the U.S. and that the disease is widely underdiagnosed (or rather, mis-diagnosed as asthma/COPD) given there are no approved treatments. In addition, brensocatib is a pipeline in a product. It’s a DPP1 inhibitor that is very potent against neutrophil serine proteases. Neutrophil serine protease activity is key in the cycle of inflammation and lung damage in bronchiectasis and is also known to play an important role in chronic rhinosinusitis without nasal polyps, an additional $1 billion-plus opportunity where Insmed will have data in the second half of 2025. In addition, another drug, Arikayce is on-market to treat refractory MAC lung disease and will likely get a front-line label with Phase 3 data expected in 2025. A third drug candidate, TPIP, is early stage but shows impressive efficacy/safety in PAH/ PH-ILD and could be a best-in-class option.”
A biopharmaceutical research team taking notes in front of a laboratory’s microscope.
Insmed Incorporated (NASDAQ:INSM) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 74 hedge fund portfolios held Insmed Incorporated (NASDAQ:INSM) at the end of the second quarter which was 48 in the previous quarter. Insmed Incorporated (NASDAQ:INSM) reported global net revenues of $75.5 million in the first quarter of 2024, up 16% compared to Q1 2023. While we acknowledge the potential of Insmed Incorporated (NASDAQ:INSM) 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 Insmed Incorporated (NASDAQ:INSM) and shared Columbia Acorn Fund’s views on the company. 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.