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 IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) in the Q4 2022 investor letter. Headquartered in Westbrook, Maine, IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) engages in the development and manufacturing of products and services for animal veterinary, livestock and poultry, dairy, and water testing. On February 10, 2023, IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) stock closed at $485.73 per share. One-month return of IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) was 1.39%, and its shares lost 3.92% of their value over the last 52 weeks. IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) has a market capitalization of $40.227 billion.
Baron Asset Fund made the following comment about IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) in its Q4 2022 investor letter:
“Shares of veterinary diagnostics leader IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) contributed to performance. The company’s financial results exceeded expectations despite ongoing headwinds from veterinary visits being adversely impacted by tight labor markets and challenging comparisons following a surge of pet adoptions during the pandemic. There were encouraging signs that the rate of decline in veterinary visits has stabilized, and we believe that increased pet ownership and pet care spending remain long-term secular trends. IDEXX’s competitive position remained outstanding, and we expect new proprietary testing and diagnostic solutions to help drive meaningful growth over time.”
IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 45 hedge fund portfolios held IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) at the end of the third quarter, which was 40 in the previous quarter.
We discussed IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) in another article and shared the list of best pet stocks to invest in. 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.