Carillon Tower Advisers, an investment management company, released its “Carillon Eagle Small Cap Growth Fund” first quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. Small-cap stocks reported positive gains in the first quarter, consolidating the last year-end rally. Among the style indexes, the Russell 2000 Growth Index (up 7.58%) outperformed the Russell 2000 Value Index (up 2.91%) by a significant margin after two consecutive quarters of value outperformance. During the quarter, Information technology led the way by increasing 16.38%, outperforming the returns generated by its value counterparts. Please check the top five holdings of the fund to know more about its best picks in 2024.
Carillon Eagle Small Cap Growth Fund highlighted stocks like Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX), in the first quarter 2024 investor letter. Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. The one-month return Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) was -19.82%, and its shares gained 181.20% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On May 30, 2024, Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) stock closed at $61.78 per share with a market capitalization of $6.812 billion.
Carillon Eagle Small Cap Growth Fund stated the following regarding Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) in its first quarter 2024 investor letter:
“Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) is a biotechnology company focused on obesity and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a chronic liver disease affecting a large population worldwide. The stock took off after the company unveiled results from a study of its lead injectable drug for obesity. It demonstrated strong overall weight reduction compared to the leading weight loss drug, tirzepatide. Investors have been excited about the potential size of the glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) agonist market, and it was an impressive achievement for a smaller, independent lab to make such a meaningful breakthrough. Additionally, the oral version of the drug also appears to have very strong weight reduction over a four-week period.”
A microbiologist in protective gear studying samples in a laboratory.
Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 52 hedge fund portfolios held Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) at the end of the first quarter which was 25 in the previous quarter. In the first quarter, Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) reported positive results from two of its major pipeline initiatives.
In another article, we discussed Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) and shared the list of best Mid-Cap healthcare stocks to buy. ClearBridge Small Cap Growth Strategy recently added Viking Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:VKTX) to its portfolio. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as Microsoft but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
