Baron Funds, an investment management company, released its “Baron Asset Fund” fourth quarter 2023 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. Declining interest rates and investors’ increasing confidence that there won’t be a hard-landing economic recession were both influenced by moderating inflation and improving labor market conditions. This bullish outlook fueled investor risk-taking and a robust equities market surge throughout the quarter. Against this backdrop, the fund gained 12.45% (Institutional Shares) in the fourth quarter underperforming the Russell Midcap Growth Index’s 14.55% return. Headwinds from the Fund’s style biases, particularly its underexposure to equities with elevated beta and residual volatility, as well as the impact of stock selection, contributed to its relative underperformance. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2023.
Baron Asset Fund featured stocks such as Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) in the fourth quarter 2023 investor letter. Headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) is a research and advisory company. On January 24, 2024, Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) stock closed at $463.08 per share. One-month return of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) was 2.39%, and its shares gained 40.79% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) has a market capitalization of $36.491 billion.
Baron Asset Fund stated the following regarding Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) in its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter:
“Shares of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT), a provider of syndicated research, soared after reporting excellent quarterly earnings results. Gartner’s core subscription research businesses continued to compound at attractive rates, and we believe that its growth will accelerate over the next several quarters. We believe Gartner will emerge as a critical decision support resource for any company contemplating the opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence for its business. We expect this development to provide a tailwind to Gartner’s volume growth and pricing realization over time. We expect that Gartner’s sustained revenue growth and focus on cost control should drive continued margin expansion and enhanced free-cash-flow generation. The company’s balance sheet remains in excellent shape, and we expect ongoing aggressive share repurchases.”
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 36 hedge fund portfolios held Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) at the end of third quarter which was 45 in the previous quarter.
We discussed Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) in another article and shared Aristotle Small/Mid Cap Equity Strategy’s views on the company. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 2023 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.
