Baron Funds, an asset management firm, published its “Baron Health Care Fund” first quarter 2022 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. In the quarter ended March 31, 2022, Baron Health Care Fund (the “Fund”) declined 9.93% (Institutional Shares), compared with the 4.56% decline for the Russell 3000 Health Care Index (the “Benchmark”) and the 4.60% decline for the S&P 500 Index. Try to spend some time taking a look at the fund’s top 5 holdings to be informed about their best picks for 2022.
In its Q1 2022 investor letter, Baron Health Care Fund mentioned Anthem, Inc. (NYSE:ANTM) and explained its insights for the company. Founded in 1944, Anthem, Inc. (NYSE:ANTM) is an Indianapolis, Indiana-based health insurance provider with a $110.9 billion market capitalization. Anthem, Inc. (NYSE:ANTM) delivered a -0.68% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are up by 19.59%. The stock closed at $460.40 per share on June 14, 2022.
Here is what Baron Health Care Fund has to say about Anthem, Inc. (NYSE:ANTM) in its Q1 2022 investor letter:
“We initiated a position in Anthem, Inc. (NYSE:ANTM) (which recently announced plans to change its name to Elevance Health), one of the largest health benefits companies in the U.S. in terms of medical membership, serving more than 45 million medical members through its affiliated health plans. Anthem serves its members through the Blue Cross and Blue Shield brand name. Similar to many managed care peers, Anthem generates its revenue from the U.S. (which avoids risks related to foreign country exposure) and has pricing power (which enables it to more than offset inflation). More specific to Anthem, the company has multiple growth drivers, including its Medicare Advantage business, its in-house pharmacy benefit management business, and its Diversified Business Group, which includes behavioral health, advanced analytics, and complex and chronic care services. Over the long term, management targets 12% to 15% annual EPS growth. We think Anthem is a high-quality growth company trading at a reasonable valuation.”
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Our calculations show that Anthem, Inc. (NYSE:ANTM) fell short and didn’t make it on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. Anthem, Inc. (NYSE:ANTM) was in 69 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the first quarter of 2022, compared to 63 funds in the previous quarter. Anthem, Inc. (NYSE:ANTM) delivered a -1.56% return in the past 3 months.
In April 2022, we also shared another hedge fund’s views on Anthem, Inc. (NYSE:ANTM) in another article. You can find other investor letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2022 Q1 page.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
