Baron Funds, an investment management company, released its “Baron Asset Fund” first quarter 2023 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. The fund appreciated 5.34% in the first quarter, trailing the Russell Midcap Growth Index, which returned 9.14%. Stock selection drove the fund to underperform in the quarter. IT, Communication Services, and Consumer Discretionary were the strongest performing sectors, while Energy and Financials were the principal laggards. Furthermore, defensive-oriented sectors, Health Care, Utilities, and Consumer Staples also struggled in the quarter. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2023.
Baron Asset Fund highlighted stocks like Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) in the first quarter 2023 investor letter. Headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) is a research and advisory company. On May 1, 2023, Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) stock closed at $307.60 per share. One-month return of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) was -2.06%, and its shares gained 9.42% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) has a market capitalization of $24.352 billion.
Baron Asset Fund made the following comment about Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) in its Q1 2023 investor letter:
“After meaningfully increasing last year, shares of Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT), a provider of syndicated research primarily on the IT sector, ceded some gains in the quarter. Gartner’s business conditions have likely softened modestly, as the company’s technology vendor customer base has been negatively impacted by layoffs and cost reductions across that sector. Despite this headwind, Gartner is generating attractive double-digit growth in its largely recurring research business. We believe Gartner should benefit from the ongoing ubiquity and complexity of technology facing nearly all types of businesses. We expect sustained revenue growth and renewed focus on cost control to drive margin expansion and enhanced free-cash-flow generation. The company’s balance sheet is in excellent shape and can support ongoing repurchases and potential bolt-on acquisitions, in our view.”
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Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 44 hedge fund portfolios held Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) at the end of the fourth quarter which was 43 in the previous quarter.
We discussed Gartner, Inc. (NYSE:IT) in another article and shared Madison Mid Cap Fund’s views on the company. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q1 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.
