Baron Funds, an investment management company, released its “Baron Asset Fund” third quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. US equities ended the quarter higher for the fourth quarter in a row. The Fed’s long-awaited interest rate cuts and generally positive economic data caused a significant shift from large-cap, Magnificent Seven, growth, and momentum stocks toward value, cyclical, and small-cap stocks. Against this backdrop, Baron Asset Fund returned 8.34% (Institutional Shares) in the quarter, outperforming the Russell Midcap Growth Index’s 6.54% return. The stock returns in the quarter were driven by Earnings Quality and the favorable environment for the firm’s investment strategy. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Baron Asset Fund highlighted stocks like Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) in the third quarter 2024 investor letter. Established in 1979, Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) is a research and advisory company that operates through Research, Conferences, and Consulting. The one-month return of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) was 2.78%, and its shares gained 57.08% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On October 29, 2024, Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) stock closed at $518.25 per share with a market capitalization of $40.103 billion.
Baron Asset Fund stated the following regarding Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“Shares of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT), a provider of syndicated research, contributed to performance in the quarter. Gartner’s core subscription research businesses inflected higher in the second quarter, and we believe growth is poised to continue accelerating over the next several quarters. Longer term, we think Gartner will emerge as a key resource for companies evaluating the opportunities and risks of AI on their business, providing a tailwind to Gartner’s volume growth and pricing realization over time. Sustained revenue growth coupled with Gartner’s focus on cost control should drive ongoing margin expansion and enhanced free cash flow generation, in our view. The company’s balance sheet remains in excellent shape and can support continued aggressive share repurchases and bolt-on acquisitions.”
A business executive confidently presenting a financial research report to a boardroom.
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 35 hedge fund portfolios held Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) at the end of the second quarter which was 44 in the previous quarter. Gartner, Inc.’s (NYSE:IT) second quarter revenue was $1.6 billion, representing a 6% year-over-year increase. While we acknowledge the potential of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) 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 Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) and shared the list of stocks that will go to the moon according to Reddit. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
READ NEXT: Michael Burry Is Selling These Stocks and A New Dawn Is Coming to US Stocks.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.