Investment management company Vulcan Value Partners recently released its fourth-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In 2024, the US economy was stronger than expected; the large-cap stocks led the robust U.S. equities markets. Although it is still excessively high, inflation did decrease throughout the course of the year. The largest market cap U.S. Companies performed better than the whole market. Lastly, U.S. stocks outperformed the majority of equities in non-U.S. markets. During Q4 and 2024, Focus and Focus Plus were the best performing strategies while Small Cap was the worst performing. However, all strategies had positive returns for the year. In the quarter, the Large Cap Composite returned -0.1% net of fees and expenses, the Small Cap Composite returned -7.3% net, the Focus Composite returned 6.3% net, the Focus Plus composite returned 7.4% and the All-Cap Composite returned -2.5% net. For more information on the fund’s best picks in 2024, please check its top five holdings.
Vulcan Value Partners highlighted stocks like Medpace Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MEDP), in the fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. Medpace Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MEDP) is a clinical research-based drug and medical device development services provider. The one-month return of Medpace Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MEDP) was -0.02%, and its shares gained 14.09% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On January 17, 2025, Medpace Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MEDP) stock closed at $337.35 per share with a market capitalization of $10.49 billion.
Vulcan Value Partners stated the following regarding Medpace Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MEDP) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“We purchased three new positions during the quarter: Everest Group Ltd., Medpace Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MEDP), and Partners Group Holdings AG. Medpace Holdings Inc. is a top ten global clinical contract research organization (CRO) providing outsourced drug development services. Medpace provides a full-service model attractive to small- and mid-sized biotechnology firms who lack the infrastructure needed to navigate the development process. This customer base is typically less price sensitive and relies on Medpace to perform end-to-end contract services for drug development. Medpace has an outstanding operating record and has grown revenues and profits at a solid double-digit rate over the last several years. The company produces robust free cash flow and has a strong balance sheet. In addition, Medpace has an excellent capital allocation history.”
A medical professional in a lab coat discussing with a colleague.
Medpace Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MEDP) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 41 hedge fund portfolios held Medpace Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MEDP) at the end of the third quarter which was 37 in the previous quarter. Medpace Holdings, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:MEDP) third quarter revenue was $533.3 million, up 8.3% year-over-year. While we acknowledge the potential of Medpace Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MEDP) 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 Medpace Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:MEDP) and shared Wasatch Small Cap Growth Strategy’s views on the company in the previous quarter. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 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.