Artisan Partners Value Fund Exited Marriott International (MAR) After Successful Investment

Artisan Partners, an investment management company, released its “Artisan Value Fund” first quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The growth stock trend that had driven US stocks up since late 2022 collapsed in Q1. The fund’s Investor Class ARTLX, Advisor Class APDLX, and Institutional Class APHLX returned 2.23%, 2.24%, and 2.31%, respectively, in the first quarter compared to a 2.14% return for the Russell 1000® Value Index. The relative performance was positively influenced by its sector allocation, which included lower-than-benchmark weightings in information technology and industrials, as well as a higher allocation in consumer staples. In addition, you can check the top 5 holdings of the strategy to know its best picks in 2025.

In its first-quarter 2025 investor letter, Artisan Value Fund highlighted stocks such as Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAR). Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAR) is a hospitality company, operating and franchising hotels, residential, timeshare, and other lodging properties. The one-month return of Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAR) was 5.67%, and its shares gained 14.03% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On May 29, 2025, Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAR) stock closed at $263.61 per share with a market capitalization of $72.202 billion.

Artisan Value Fund stated the following regarding Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAR) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:

“We exited Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAR), a multinational hospitality company, after a successful multiyear investment campaign. Marriott is a prime example of how we aim to use volatility to our advantage by investing in quality businesses at lower prices. When we initiated our position in March 2020during the COVID crash, its P/E multiple had collapsed from the mid-20s to the high teens, which offered a sufficient margin of safety, in our estimation, to take on the position in an iconic, long lived global franchise with competitive advantages to peers, value conscious management, a flexible financial structure and cash producing capabilities. At the time it was tough to see travel picking up again, though we believed it was only a matter of time. Since that time, travel has been one of the strongest areas of the economy, and Marriott’s stock price is up more than three-fold from its March 2020 lows.”

Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAR) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 60 hedge fund portfolios held Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAR) at the end of the first quarter, which was 69 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAR) 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 undervalued AI stock set for massive gains.

In another article, we covered Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAR) and shared Renaissance Large Cap Growth Strategy’s views on the company. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 2025 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.