Baron Funds, an investment management company, released its “Baron Asset Fund” fourth quarter 2022 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. The fund increased by 12.21% in the fourth quarter, outperforming the Russell Midcap Growth Index which returned 6.90%. Stock selection and underexposure to stocks with high measures of Residual Volatility and Beta led the fund to outperform in the quarter. For 2022, the fund fell 25.87% compared to a -26.72% return for the Russell Midcap Growth Index. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2022.
Baron Asset Fund highlighted stocks like Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) in its Q4 2022 investor letter. Headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts, Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) is a software technology company focusing on industrial automation. On February 13, 2023, Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) stock closed at $211.45 per share. One-month return of Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) was 5.34%, and year-to-date its shares gained 2.95% of their value. Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) has a market capitalization of $13.696 billion.
Baron Asset Fund made the following comment about Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) in its Q4 2022 investor letter:
“Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) is a leader in automation software for the energy and other process industries. After performing well throughout the year, the company’s shares fell in the fourth quarter as its earnings multiple compressed alongside falling oil prices. Nevertheless, organic revenue growth trends remained strong, with annual contract value growing 7.5%. We view the company’s May 2022 transaction with Emerson Electric Co. as transformational. We expect Aspen to improve the growth rate, profitability, and cash flow of the acquired businesses by converting their products to recurring revenue models, while also leveraging Emerson’s vast sales force to improve its own growth. We also expect Aspen to be more aggressive with M&A in the future.”
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Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 17 hedge fund portfolios held Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) at the end of the third quarter, which was 18 in the previous quarter.
We discussed Aspen Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ:AZPN) in another article and shared TimesSquare Capital Management’s views on the company. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 2022 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.
