Polen Capital, an investment management company, released its “Polen Focus Growth Strategy” fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The U.S. equities have experienced a significant performance surge over the past two years. In the fourth quarter, the strategy returned 4.9% (gross) and 4.65% (net) compared to 7.07% for the Russell 1000 Growth Index and 2.41% for the S&P 500 Index. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
In its fourth quarter 2024 investor letter, Polen Focus Growth Strategy emphasized stocks such as Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS). Zoetis Inc. (NYSE: ZTS) is involved in the research, development, manufacturing, and sale of animal health medications, vaccines, and diagnostic products and services. The one-month return of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) was -4.09%, and its shares lost 7.99% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On March 5, 2025, Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) stock closed at $167.00 per share with a market capitalization of $74.781 billion.
Polen Focus Growth Strategy stated the following regarding Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:
“Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) and Adobe were also notable absolute detractors. Zoetis has been posting excellent growth on the back of its pain and dermatology franchises for quite some time, and its core companion animal business has been firing on all cylinders. Despite this, the stock has come under pressure due to concerns about the growth prospects of Librela, its biologic drug for pain in dogs (as well as Solensia, the sister drug for cats). There has been some concern about the side effects of these drugs, but the data disclosed thus far shows a very low level of adverse events, with drugs that prove highly effective in treating pain. We expect strong growth from these and other drugs currently marketed by Zoetis, with more to come from its prolific pipeline. We used the recent weakness to add to our position.”
A veterinarian administering a vaccine to a herd of cattle in a farm.
Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 76 hedge fund portfolios held Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) at the end of the fourth quarter compared to 62 in the third quarter. Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) reported revenue of $9.3 billion for the year, reflecting an 8% increase on a reported basis and an 11% increase operationally. While we acknowledge the potential of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) 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 Zoetis Inc. (NYSE:ZTS) and shared the list of best weight loss drugs to buy according to analysts. 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.