Baron Funds, an investment management company, released its “Baron Health Care Fund” first quarter 2023 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. The first quarter was difficult for the fund, as it failed to participate in the broader market rally and declined 3.69% compared to the 3.27% decline for the benchmark Russell 3000 Health Care Index and a 7.50% increase for the S&P 500 Index. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2023.
Baron Health Care Fund highlighted stocks like Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in the first quarter 2023 investor letter. Headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) is a biotechnology company. On May 17, 2023, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) stock closed at $341.20 per share. One-month return of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) was 3.66%, and its shares gained 33.57% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) has a market capitalization of $87.877 billion.
Baron Health Care Fund made the following comment about Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in its Q1 2023 investor letter:
“Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) is a leader in the treatment of cystic fibrosis (CF). Vertex has three approved and marketed drugs, each for treatment of differing subsets of CF. These drugs represent paradigm shifts for CF patients hoping to extend their lives beyond their 30s or 40s. Shares increased primarily due to underlying business fundamentals, including strong free cash flow generation that is largely unmatched in the biopharmaceutical universe. In addition to its core treatment program for CF, Vertex has a robust pipeline of drugs that is starting to become value inflecting. We are looking to Vertex’s APOL1 kidney disease program and updates on its treatment for Type 1 diabetes, in particular, to drive future upside.”
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Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 60 hedge fund portfolios held Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) at the end of the fourth quarter which was 49 in the previous quarter.
We discussed Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated (NASDAQ:VRTX) in another article and shared the list of largest biotech companies in the US. 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.