Baron Funds, an investment management company, released its “Baron FinTech Fund” fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. For the fifth consecutive quarter, U.S. stocks increased, with most of the gains coming in November after the U.S. elections, which saw Republicans secure majorities in both chambers of Congress and President Donald Trump re-elected. In the fourth quarter, the fund rose 5.29% (Institutional Shares) compared to a 4.24% return for the FactSet Global FinTech Index (Benchmark) and a 2.41% gain for the S&P 500 index. Since inception, the fund has appreciated at an annualized rate of 12.17%, compared to 3.93% for the Benchmark. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
In its fourth quarter 2024 investor letter, Baron FinTech Fund emphasized stocks such as Visa Inc. (NYSE:V). Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is a payment technology company. The one-month return of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) was 8.23%, and its shares gained 25.19% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On February 19, 2025, Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) stock closed at $355.23 per share with a market capitalization of $685.242 billion.
Baron FinTech Fund stated the following regarding Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Favorable stock selection in Payments was mostly attributable to double-digit gains from global payment companies Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) and Fiserv, Inc. Visa was a top contributor after the company reported strong quarterly results and provided a positive outlook for the next fiscal year. Quarterly revenue growth of 12% and EPS growth of 16% exceeded Street expectations, and initial guidance for fiscal 2025 calls for continued double-digit earnings growth.”
A close-up of a credit card being swiped on a payment terminal, reflecting the company’s payments technology.
Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) is in 6th position on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 181 hedge fund portfolios held Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) at the end of the fourth quarter which was 165 in the previous quarter. Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) had a strong start to fiscal year 2025 with $9.5 billion in net revenue, up 10% year-over-year, and a 14% increase in EPS. While we acknowledge the potential of Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) 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 Visa Inc. (NYSE:V) and shared Bretton Fund’s views on the company. 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.