Baron Funds, an investment management company, released its “Baron Health Care Fund” fourth quarter 2023 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. The fund advanced 7.69% (Institutional Shares) in the quarter compared to a 6.96% gain for the Russell 3000 Health Care Index and an 11.69% increase for the S&P 500 Index. For the full year, the fund increased 6.42%, compared to 2.87% and 26.29% returns for the indexes, respectively. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2023.
Baron Health Care Fund featured stocks such as West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in the fourth quarter 2023 investor letter. Headquartered in Exton, Pennsylvania, West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) is a manufacturer of healthcare products and injectable drug packaging. On January 19, 2024, West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) stock closed at $342.74 per share. One-month return of West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) was -3.43%, and its shares gained 29.77% of their value over the last 52 weeks. West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) has a market capitalization of $25.359 billion.
Baron Health Care Fund stated the following regarding West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter:
“Somewhat offsetting the above was adverse stock selection in life sciences tools & services, where the principal detractors were West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) and Stevanato Group S.p.A. Shares of West, a manufacturer of components and systems for the packaging and delivery of injectable drugs, declined after the company reported sales that missed analyst forecasts and cut guidance due to inventory management by certain customers who delayed orders into 2024. We believe this shortfall is a timing issue and does not detract from the positive long-term outlook for the business. We believe West has a competitively advantaged business that we estimate can grow revenue by 7% to 9% on a normalized basis, driven by mix shift, volume, and price.”
A closeup of multiple drug containment systems in an array of colors.
West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 42 hedge fund portfolios held West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) at the end of third quarter which was 39 in the previous quarter.
We discussed West Pharmaceutical Services, Inc. (NYSE:WST) in another article and shared the list of best dividend stocks with upside potential. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 2023 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.
