Carillon Tower Advisers, an investment management company, released its “Carillon Eagle Growth & Income Fund” second quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The S&P 500 Index experienced 4.3% gains during the second quarter, but the benchmark index’s 15.3% gain at the end of the first half was remarkable. The S&P 500 Index’s record highs in the first half of the year were driven by the extraordinary performance of technology stocks, which were propelled by the artificial intelligence (AI) trend and advancements toward the point at which the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) could begin lowering interest rates. However, there was still a problem with market breadth, with the eight top-performing equities accounting for about 70% of all returns. The strongest sectors by far were communication services and information technology, with the majority of other sectors trading more or less flat. In addition, you can check the top 5 holdings of the fund to know its best picks in 2024.
Carillon Eagle Growth & Income Fund highlighted stocks like Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT), in the second quarter 2024 investor letter. Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) develops, manufactures, and distributes device-based medical therapies. The one-month return of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) was 8.67%, and its shares gained 7.85% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On August 30, 2024, Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) stock closed at $88.58 per share with a market capitalization of $113.613 billion.
Carillon Eagle Growth & Income Fund stated the following regarding Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Medtronic plc’s (NYSE:MDT) fundamental updates in the second quarter were mostly positive, including issuing solid quarterly results and reporting positive results from two cardiology clinical trials. However, there is some investor apprehension around the implied cadence of guidance for fiscal 2025, which was exacerbated by the recent departure of the company’s CFO for a role in another industry.”
A surgeon in a modern operating room holding advanced medical devices with a sense of purpose and accuracy.
Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 52 hedge fund portfolios held Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) at the end of the second quarter which was 54 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) 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 Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) and shared the list of best medical AI companies. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
READ NEXT: Michael Burry Is Selling These Stocks and A New Dawn Is Coming to US Stocks.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
