We recently compiled a list of the Billionaire Israel Englander’s Top 10 Stock Picks Heading Into 2025. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) stands against the other stock picks.
Israel Englander has always inspired the investment world by founding and managing the second-most profitable hedge fund in history. The Brooklyn-born billionaire investor began his career on Wall Street in 1970. After gaining valuable experience in trading and investment management, he founded Millennium Management in 1989.
Millennium Management has become one of the world’s largest and most successful hedge funds, managing $210 billion in 13F securities as of Q3 2024. Innovative investment strategies and a focus on risk management are the tenets that have propelled the hedge fund to tremendous success. Since its inception, Englander’s hedge fund has averaged 14% in annual returns, solidifying its position in the highly competitive hedge fund landscape. The hedge fund has also racked up over $56 billion in cumulative profits for investors since its inception.
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Millennium Management had its best year in 2000, when the dot-com bust started, and the S&P 500 was down 10%. Thanks to its multi-strategy approach, it returned 35%, which consistently produces positive returns. As the CEO, Englander only had one down year, a 3% decline at the height of the financial crisis in 2008. The impressive performance stems from the billionaire investor focusing on unique investment strategies emphasizing diversification and risk management. Likewise, Englander advocates for a multi-strategy approach that makes it easy to capitalize on various market opportunities.
Millennium Management’s diversification strategy was highlighted when they sold tech stocks to invest in an index fund, emphasizing long-term growth and risk mitigation. Israel Englander remains focused on expanding the firm and leveraging technology to stay competitive.
In 2023, Israel Englander topped Bloomberg’s list of highest-earning hedge fund managers with $2.8 billion in net earnings. Millennium Management earned $600 million from commodities last year but lagged behind Citadel’s $8 billion in 2022. Bloomberg cited sources saying Millennium’s struggles are due to Englander’s tight control. Financial Times reported Millennium manages $60 billion in assets, employs 5,400 people, and has 17 offices. The fund returned 8.3% in 2023, 12.5% in 2022, 13.6% in 2021, and 25.9% in 2020.
Millennium Management was one of the hedge funds that benefited from the overall stock market rally, with the S&P 500 gaining 24% in 2024 due to optimism around artificial intelligence and interest rate cuts. The hedge fund also benefited from its exposure to many of the ‘Magnificent 7’ stocks, which were behind much of the actions in 2024.
After two straight years of annual gains, the focus in the equity markets is on stocks that can maintain the upward momentum in 2025. Billionaire Israel Englander’s top stock picks are well poised to benefit from a strong US economy. While the billionaire investor’s portfolio consists of tech stocks, it also consists of investment plays in healthcare, industrials and materials sectors. With that, let’s take a look at some of his top stock picks.
Our Methodology
We analyzed Millennium Management’s portfolio to make a list of billionaire Israel Englander’s top 10 stock picks heading into 2025. We then settled on Englander’s top ten holdings and analyzed them to determine why they stand out in generating long-term value. We then ranked these companies in ascending order based on the hedge fund’s stake value.
At Insider Monkey, we are obsessed with the stocks that hedge funds pile into. The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
A surgeon in a modern operating room holding advanced medical devices with a sense of purpose and accuracy.
Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT)
Millennium Management’s Stake Value: $559.76 Million
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 60
Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) is a healthcare company that develops, manufactures, and sells device-based medical therapies to healthcare systems, physicians, clinicians, and patients worldwide. It offers implantable cardiac pacemakers, cardioverter defibrillators, and cardiac resynchronization therapy devices. While the stock was down by about 4% in 2024, it remains one of billionaire Israel Englander’s top stock picks.
It is one of the companies well poised to benefit from declining interest rates. This is because hospitals and businesses that purchase Medtronic plc’s (NYSE:MDT) devices can finance them more affordably as rates fall. That may contribute to a slight acceleration of its growth rate.
Medtronic has been growing, even though its single-digit growth may not give the impression that it is a growing company. It has also received about 130 product approvals in numerous important markets in the last 12 months alone. The company also has a wide range of products in its portfolio, including continuous glucose monitoring devices, neurostimulators, and catheters. It also regularly releases new devices.
In addition, the company maintains operations in more than 150 countries and is backed by products that treat over 70 health conditions. Consequently, Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) is well-positioned to grow and generate more shareholder value by bringing better and more efficient products to the market. Likewise, the company should continue to excite income-focused investors with its 3.20% dividend yield.
Matrix Asset Advisors stated the following regarding Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“In Q3, we added to two Healthcare positions, Medtronic plc (NYSE:MDT) and Becton Dickinson (BD). Both companies are very attractive in our valuation analysis. We started the LCV position in MDT in the second quarter and added to it as more cash became available. The company’s business results have improved this year as the number of medical procedures normalized from their decline during the pandemic. “
Overall MDT ranks 8th on our list of Billionaire Israel Englander’s top stock picks heading into 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of MDT as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some deeply undervalued AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for a deeply undervalued AI stock that is more promising than the ones mentioned on our list but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
