Cooper Investors, an investment management firm, released its “Cooper Investors Global Equities Fund” first quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The fund returned 7.4% in the first quarter, compared to a 9.4% return for the benchmark MSCI ACWI. The market rally, which started in late October 2023, has lasted through 2024. The US is leading, with the S&P 500 reaching new all-time highs for the first time since the rate-hiking cycle started, driven by the continuous rise in tech companies connected to AI markets. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Cooper Investors Global Equities Fund featured stocks like Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) in the first quarter 2024 investor letter. Headquartered in Washington, the District of Columbia, Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) designs, manufactures, and markets professional, medical, industrial, and commercial products and services. On April 22, 2024, Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) stock closed at $236.08 per share. One-month return of Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) was -4.98%, and its shares gained 14.81% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) has a market capitalization of $174.828 billion.
Cooper Investors Global Equities Fund stated the following regarding Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“On the funding side, the portfolio fully exited Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) during the quarter. We no longer see compelling Risk Adjusted Value Latency today with the shares rebounding 35% since the October lows and once again trading at a significant relative premium (50-60%), despite tough operating trends in the bioprocessing market. Having owned Danaher continuously for the past 14 years this is ‘the end of an era’ and so bears a brief tribute.
Danaher was the longest held stock in the portfolio having been initially purchased in July 2010. Investing alongside the Rales brothers has been an incredible experience. In returns generation, Danaher was a true 10-bagger; purchased at USD$25 a share and sold at ~USD$255, generating a return over the holding period of over 1,300% and an IRR of approximately 18%.
Yet its value has not merely been as a winning stock but also as a teacher, a source of idea generation, and a spin-off machine. Danaher was the original ‘Capital Allocator Champion’, through which we learned about the margin-expansionary benefits of focused business systems operating with continuous improvement – Kaizens running concurrently on the lab or factory floor. We also built an understanding of how Danaher operates its M&A philosophy, a major driver of its success – what to buy, when to buy, who to buy from, how to integrate, and how much to pay. Studying this allowed us to develop Pattern Recognition of ‘what good looks like’ when meeting similar companies. Without Danaher, we may never have owned Domino Printing Sciences, Constellation Software, Halma, Roper, Ametek or Diploma, not to mention the spin- offs, some of which remain in the portfolio today. The business remains on our Watchlist through our continuous coverage of the Life Sciences cluster.”
A research and development laboratory with scientists examining sophisticated electronic components.
Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) is in 21st position on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. At the end of the fourth quarter, Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) was held by 90 hedge fund portfolios, compared to 103 in the previous quarter, according to our database.
We previously discussed Danaher Corporation (NYSE:DHR) in another article, where we shared the list of best diversified stocks to invest in. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
Suggested Articles:
- 30 Most Beautiful College Campuses in the US
- Latest Stock Portfolio: Top 10 Stock Picks
- 20 States with the Highest Divorce Rates in the US
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
