Baron Funds, an investment management company, released its “Baron Health Care Fund” fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. The Fund performed roughly in line with the Benchmark, during a challenging quarter for the larger health care industry. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The fund declined 9.58% (Institutional Shares) in the quarter compared to a 9.75% decline for the Russell 3000 Health Care Index (benchmark) and a 2.63% gain for the Russell 3000 Index (the Index). For the full year 2024, the fund appreciated 1.55% compared to 3.48% and 23.81% gains for the indexes. 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 Health Care Fund emphasized stocks such as Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA). Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) is a diagnostics company that develops and commercializes molecular testing services. The one-month return of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) was -1.48%, and its shares gained 142.80% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On February 18, 2025, Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) stock closed at $169.38 per share with a market capitalization of $22.362 billion.
Baron Health Care Fund stated the following regarding Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) is a diagnostics company for women’s health, organ transplant diagnostics, and oncology. Natera offers a personalized blood-based DNA test called Signatera, which, by detecting how much residual cancer DNA remains in the body, helps doctors determine whether post-surgery chemotherapy is needed and monitor for cancer recurrence before it is detectable with standard imaging. Shares increased on blowout quarterly results, with outsized growth in the Signatera business and robust gross margin progression overall. We think Signatera is in the early innings of adoption in a market estimated at more than $20 billion and will ultimately change the standard of care. We see a long runway for growth with expanding margins and profitability.”
A laboratory environment with technicians in lab coats conducting molecular testing services.
Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 62 hedge fund portfolios held Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) at the end of the third quarter which was 60 in the previous quarter. In the third quarter of 2024, Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) announced revenues of $439.8 million, showing a 64% increase compared to Q3 2023, marking a record revenue growth in this quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) 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 Natera, Inc. (NASDAQ:NTRA) and shared Alger Small Cap Growth 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.