Artisan Partners, an investment management company, released its “Artisan Mid Cap Value Fund” first-quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The growth stock trade that had driven U.S. stocks higher since late 2022 came undone in the first quarter of 2025. In the quarter, the fund’s Investor Class fund ARTQX returned -1.03%, Advisor Class fund APDQX posted a return of – 0.97%, and Institutional Class fund APHQX returned -0.97%, compared to a -2.11% return for the Russell Midcap Value Index. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025.
In its first-quarter 2025 investor letter, Artisan Mid Cap Value Fund highlighted stocks such as Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX). Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) is a Medical Instruments & Supplies company that develops and provides healthcare products. The one-month return of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) was -3.56%, and its shares lost 9.34% of their value over the past 52 weeks. On June 3, 2025, Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) closed at $30.09 per share, with a market capitalization of $15.441 billion.
Artisan Mid Cap Value Fund stated the following regarding Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:
“Our top individual contributors were a varied group that included Genpact, Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) and Dollar General. Baxter is a health care company that provides essential products in renal care, medication delivery, advanced surgery, clinical nutrition, pharma and acute therapies. Shares have languished in the post COVID years as growth has disappointed due to a combination of factors, including supply-chain issues and a delayed normalization of procedure volumes. In February, Baxter shares rebounded on a solid quarterly earnings result and consistent fiscal year guidance. Revenue growth was better than expected, partly due to a quicker turnaround from Hurricane Helene, which had disrupted a manufacturing facility in western North Carolina. Baxter recently completed a multiyear restructuring effort, selling several non-core operations, seeking to transform itself into a more profitable growth company. After a few bumpy years and moving parts related to its restructuring that has likely added confusion among investors, the stock’s valuation has become increasingly attractive based on our sum-of-parts analysis. Though growth has disappointed, all the company’s earnings are turned into free cash flow because it’s a low capital-intensive business. Baxter is using that free cash flow to pay down debt and return capital to shareholders.”
Patients connected to dialysis machines in a hospital ward, highlighting the company’s dialysis and intravenous therapies.
Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 36 hedge fund portfolios held Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) at the end of the first quarter, which was 36 in the previous quarter. Baxter International Inc.’s (NYSE:BAX) global sales from continuing operations for the first quarter of 2025 reached $2.3 billion, reflecting a 5% increase on both a reported and operational basis. While we acknowledge the potential of Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) 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 Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) and shared Broyhill Asset Management’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.
