ClearBridge Investments, an investment management firm, released its second-quarter 2023 “Mid Cap Growth Strategy” investor letter, a copy of which can be downloaded here. Mid-cap stocks posted positive gains in the quarter, as signs of economic robustness, moderate inflation, and stronger-than-expected corporate earnings helped boost equity markets. The strategy outperformed its Russell Midcap Growth Index during the second quarter. On an absolute basis, the strategy gained eight of the 10 sectors in which it was invested during the quarter. IT and industrials sectors were the leading contributors while the consumer discretionary sector detracted. Overall stock selection positively contributed to performance on a relative basis. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2023.
ClearBridge Mid Cap Growth Strategy highlighted stocks like ICON Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:ICLR) in the second quarter 2023 investor letter. Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, ICON Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:ICLR) is a clinical research organization. On September 15, 2023, ICON Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:ICLR) stock closed at $261.71 per share. One-month return of ICON Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:ICLR) was 5.18%, and its shares gained 29.73% of their value over the last 52 weeks. ICON Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:ICLR) has a market capitalization of $21.5 billion.
ClearBridge Mid Cap Growth Strategy made the following comment about ICON Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:ICLR) in its Q2 2023 investor letter:
“Stock selection in the health care sector also contributed to outperformance during the quarter. As capital markets funding activity in biotech stocks have begun to slowly build off a low base, a key health care R&D industry headwind is fading. This aided our top performing health care stock, and new addition to the portfolio, ICON Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:ICLR), which manages clinical research studies and provides lab services to pharmaceutical companies. ICON continues to deliver strong, consistent performance and saw its backlog increase during the quarter as it continues to produce strong bookings growth.”
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ICON Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:ICLR) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 40 hedge fund portfolios held ICON Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:ICLR) at the end of second quarter which was 40 in the previous quarter.
We discussed ICON Public Limited Company (NASDAQ:ICLR) in another article and shared Polen International Growth Strategy’s views on the company. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2023 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.
