Polen Capital, an investment management company, released its “Polen Focus Growth Strategy” fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The U.S. equities have experienced a significant performance surge over the past two years. In the fourth quarter, the strategy returned 4.9% (gross) and 4.65% (net) compared to 7.07% for the Russell 1000 Growth Index and 2.41% for the S&P 500 Index. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
In its fourth quarter 2024 investor letter, Polen Focus Growth Strategy emphasized stocks such as Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY). Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) is a pharmaceutical company, headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The one-month return of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) was 6.82%, and its shares gained 19.17% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On March 5, 2025, Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) stock closed at $929.72 per share with a market capitalization of $881.53 billion.
Polen Focus Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“We also added to our positions in Oracle, Zoetis, and Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY). Eli Lilly has come under pressure from a series of headlines that we believe are non-issues, and we took advantage of the price decline to add to our position. In its most recent earnings report, the company’s GLP-1 revenue growth was slightly below expectations even though the absolute level of growth was excellent. Secondly, the appointment of RFK Jr. as head of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in the upcoming Trump administration has also weighed on sentiment given Kennedy’s vocal criticism of GLP-1s and drug pricing in general. We do not see any potential policy change that would likely reduce the overall demand for GLP-1 drugs nor a significant reduction in the revenue growth potential of Eli Lilly.”
Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) is in 21st position on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 115 hedge fund portfolios held Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) at the end of the fourth quarter which was 106 in the previous quarter. In 2024, Eli Lilly and Company’s (NYSE:LLY) revenue increased 32% compared to 2023, exceeding guidance by approximately $4 billion. While we acknowledge the potential of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) 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 Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) and shared the list of stocks to buy according to Lone Pine Capital. 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.