Meridian Funds, managed by ArrowMark Partners, released its “Meridian Growth Fund” fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Large cap growth stocks saw a 7.1% gain in the quarter, contributing to 33.4% annual gains. The strong performance was driven by optimism for Trump’s re-election, anticipated tax cuts, and a business-friendly regulatory environment. In the fourth quarter, the fund returned -0.81% (net) underperforming the benchmark, the Russell 2500 Growth Index’s 2.43% return. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
In its fourth quarter 2024 investor letter, Meridian Growth Fund emphasized stocks such as STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) in the fourth quarter 2023 investor letter. Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) provides infection prevention products and services. The one-month return of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) was 1.74%, and its shares lost 6.39% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On February 20, 2025, STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) stock closed at $220.79 per share with a market capitalization of $21.693 billion.
Meridian Growth Fund stated the following regarding STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) provides specialized sterilization and surgical products for the healthcare industry. Our original investment was motivated by the company’s consistent growth and profit profile given its leading market positions for mission-critical healthcare services. The company reported steady organic revenue growth and stable future guidance during the quarter. However, the stock underperformed due to concerns over slower growth in its highest-margin segment, a one-time capital equipment loss, and pending litigation tied to a facility the company acquired in a prior acquisition. While an overhang for the stock, we view these issues as largely transient and retained our position, given management’s consistent execution across core operations.”
Lab technicians testing wound care products in a sterile environment.
STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 48 hedge fund portfolios held STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) at the end of the fourth quarter compared to 37 in the third quarter. In the fiscal third quarter of 2025, STERIS plc’s (NYSE:STE) total revenue grew 6% in constant currency. While we acknowledge the potential of STERIS plc (NYSE:STE) 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 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.