Baron Funds, an investment management company, released its “Baron Health Care Fund” third quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The fund appreciated 5.81%% (Institutional Shares) in the quarter compared to a 6.74% gain for the Russell 3000 Health Care Index (benchmark) and a 6.23% gain for the Russell 3000 Index (the Index). Since inception, the fund appreciated 13.02% on an annualized basis compared to an 11.47% gain for the benchmark and a 14.03% gain for the index. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Baron Health Care Fund highlighted stocks like UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH), in the third quarter 2024 investor letter. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) is a diversified healthcare company that operates through UnitedHealthcare, Optum Health, Optum Insight, and Optum Rx segments. The one-month return of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) was -4.77%, and its shares gained 6.33% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On October 31, 2024, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) stock closed at $564.50 per share with a market capitalization of $521.269 billion.
Baron Health Care Fund stated the following regarding UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) in its Q3 2024 investor letter:
“UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) is a leading health and well-being company that operates across four segments: UnitedHealthcare, Optum Health, OptumInsight, and OptumRX. Despite complex Q2 results that involved multiple adjustments and an elevated medical loss ratio that management attributed to a cyberattack on its Change Healthcare platform, shares increased on positive management comments and reaffirmation of adjusted EPS guidance for 2024. We believe UnitedHealth should continue to see strong growth and profitability, driven by positive demographic trends and its ability to manage costs by leveraging its size and scale, continuing its industry-leading technology investments, expanding its expertise in population health, and growing its portfolio of providers.”
A senior healthcare professional giving advice to a patient in a clinic.
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) is in 22nd position on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 114 hedge fund portfolios held UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) at the end of the second quarter which was 104 in the previous quarter. UnitedHealth Group Incorporated’s (NYSE:UNH) Q3 revenues reached $101 billion, marking a 9% year-over-year increase with strong growth at both Optum and UnitedHealthcare segments. While we acknowledge the potential of UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) 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 UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) and shared the list of best fundamental stocks to invest in. In the third quarter, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE:UNH) rebounded and positively impacted the performance of Wedgewood Partners. 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.