Here’s Why Aristotle Focus Growth Strategy Sold IDEXX Laboratories (IDXX)

Aristotle Atlantic Partners, LLC, an investment advisor, released its “Focus Growth Strategy” third quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The U.S. equity market continued its rise to new record highs, with the S&P 500 Index increasing by 5.89% during the period.  Aristotle Atlantic’s Focus Growth strategy returned 2.84% gross of fees (2.82% net of fees) in the quarter underperforming the Russell 1000 Growth Index’s 3.19% total return. The relative outperformance was due to both allocation effects and security selection. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to determine its best picks for 2024.

Aristotle Focus Growth Strategy highlighted stocks like IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX), in the third quarter 2024 investor letter. IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) develops, manufactures, and distributes products primarily for the companion animal veterinary, livestock and poultry, dairy, and water testing markets. The one-month return of IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) was -12.54%, and its shares lost 2.68% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On October 31, 2024, IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) stock closed at $406.92 per share with a market capitalization of $34.386 billion.

Aristotle Focus Growth Strategy stated the following regarding IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:

“We sold IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) on concerns that the cumulative effects of past pricing power and subdued volume growth will begin to impact sales growth as pricing power subsides. Furthermore, signs point to a slowing consumer, which could soften demand for vet services and thus adversely affect testing volumes. IDEXX trades at a premium multiple, and we have seen signs of slowing growth having outsized impacts on stock prices in the most recent earnings period.”

A veterinarian in a veterinary clinic examining a companion animal.

IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 41 hedge fund portfolios held IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) at the end of the second quarter which was 44 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) 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 IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) and shared the list of best pet stocks to invest in according to analysts. 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.