Polen Capital, an investment management company, released its “Polen Global Growth Strategy” third-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Volatility returned in the third quarter, in contrast to the first half of the year characterized by an increasingly crowded AI trade. The Strategy returned 3.85% gross (3.54% net) compared to the MSCI ACW Index’s 6.61% return. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Polen Global Growth Strategy highlighted stocks like Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO), in the Q3 2024 investor letter. Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) engages in the research and development, manufacture, and distribution of pharmaceutical products. The one-month return of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) was -10.81%, and its shares gained 3.88% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On November 14, 2024, Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) stock closed at $105.32 per share with a market capitalization of $478.093 billion.
Polen Global Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“The largest relative and absolute detractors in the quarter were Alphabet, Amazon, and Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO). Novo Nordisk experienced some weakness in the final weeks of the quarter, mainly stemming from mixed safety data in a mid-stage trial for one of its next-generation oral weight loss drugs. Specifically, the results showed statistically significant weight loss compared to a placebo but limited additional losses at higher doses with mild to moderate side effects. Naturally, the market expressed some concern about the commercial viability of this new oral drug and whether Novo is lagging behind competitor Eli Lilly in bringing an effective oral drug to market that can be more easily scaled. Both companies are exploring several novel approaches, some of which we expect will underwhelm. Key next-generation drugs continue to show great promise, and there remains significant opportunity for existing obesity drugs. Efforts are underway to increase production capacity to meet excess demand in the coming years.”
An elderly couple receiving insulin from a pharmacist, representing healthcare company’s successful pharmaceutical products.
Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 67 hedge fund portfolios held Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) at the end of the second quarter which was 60 in the previous quarter. In the first nine months, Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) delivered 24% sales growth and 22% operating profit growth. While we acknowledge the potential of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) 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 Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) and shared the list of best European stocks to buy according to hedge funds. Polen Global Growth Strategy increased its holdings in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) in Q4 2023, believing in the value of the company’s innovative obesity drugs. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q3 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.
