ClearBridge Investments, an investment management company, released its “ClearBridge Large Cap Growth Strategy” fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. During a time of momentum-driven returns and heightened investor optimism following Donald Trump’s re-election, the more defensively oriented Strategy lagged behind. The S&P 500 Index advanced 2.41% in the quarter to finish 2024 up 25.02%. The benchmark Russell 1000 Growth Index (RLG) jumped 7.07% for the quarter and 33.36% for the year. 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 Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO), in the Q4 2024 investor letter. Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) engages in the research and development, manufacture, and distribution of pharmaceutical products. The one-month return of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) was -23.67%, and its shares lost 22.08% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On January 7, 2025, Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) stock closed at $83.34 per share with a market capitalization of $379.382 billion.
ClearBridge Large Cap Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Similarly, we used a temporary price dislocation caused by disappointing clinical trial results to purchase shares of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO), a Danish-based leader in diabetes and obesity treatments. Novo’s Wegovy semaglutide drug was first to market among the new generation of obesity drugs; however, the company has lost market share to portfolio holding Eli Lilly due to delays in scaling up production volumes and superior weight loss results demonstrated by Lilly’s trizepatide drugs. While the initial market reaction to Novo’s more enhanced CagriSema weight loss treatment was negative, we believe this is a more potent formulation that can better compete with Lilly’s suite. With Novo poised to have a better product portfolio and improved supply position, we find the company’s valuation very attractive given the large secular growth trends behind the diabesity market.”
An elderly couple receiving insulin from a pharmacist, representing healthcare company’s successful pharmaceutical products.
Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 61 hedge fund portfolios held Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) at the end of the third quarter which was 67 in the previous quarter. In the first nine months, Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) delivered 24% sales growth and 22% operating profit growth. While we acknowledge the potential of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) 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 Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) and shared the list of best pharma dividend stocks to buy in 2024. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 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.