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 Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX). Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) manufactures and markets medical devices for use in various interventional medical specialties. The one-month return of Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) was 5.02%, and its shares gained 60.23% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On February 18, 2025, Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) stock closed at $105.35 per share with a market capitalization of $155.268 billion.
Baron Health Care Fund stated the following regarding Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) is a global manufacturer of devices used in a broad range of interventional medical specialties. Shares climbed steadily throughout the quarter on solid company fundamentals, including a double-digit EPS growth profile and cost discipline that produces more than 50 basis points of annual operating margin expansion. We believe Boston Scientific can see sustainable organic growth in the high single digits, driven by differentiated products in electrophysiology and structural heart, in particular, the emerging field of pulsed field ablation (PFA), where the company is well positioned. Temperature-based methods (either hot or cold) to disable heart tissue responsible for irregular heartbeats can damage surrounding tissue. PFA relies on electricity to damage aberrant tissue, and because different types of tissue have different electrical thresholds, the surrounding tissue can be selectively spared. In our opinion, Boston Scientific is a compelling name within the large-cap medical device universe.”
A surgeon examining a patient’s brain in an operating room, paramedics nearby.
Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 92 hedge fund portfolios held Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) at the end of the third quarter which was 82 in the previous quarter. Boston Scientific Corporation’s (NYSE:BSX) operational sales grew 23% in Q4 2024, and organic sales grew 20% surpassing the guidance range of 14%-16%. While we acknowledge the potential of Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) 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 Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE:BSX) and shared the list of best momentum stocks to buy according to hedge funds. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
READ NEXT: Michael Burry Is Selling These Stocks and A New Dawn Is Coming to US Stocks.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.