Baron Funds, an investment management company, released its “Baron Partners Fund” second quarter 2024 investor letter. The fund rose modestly in the second quarter and exceeded its primary benchmark, the Russell Midcap Growth Index. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The Fund rose 1.02% (institutional Shares) in the quarter and the index declined 3.21%. The fund owns competitively advantaged, well-managed, principally publicly owned, growth businesses. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to determine its best picks for 2024.
Baron Partners Fund highlighted stocks like CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP) in the second quarter 2024 investor letter. CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP) is an information, analytics, and online marketplace services provider for commercial and residential property markets. CoStar Group, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:CSGP) one-month return was -6.42%, and its shares lost 9.82% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On August 12, 2024, CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP) stock closed at $72.03 per share with a market capitalization of $29.519 billion.
Baron Partners Fund stated the following regarding CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP) is a provider of marketing and data analytics services to the real estate industry. Shares detracted from performance in the quarter along with the broader software sector. Most software companies experienced a slowdown in new sales activity in early 2024, leading to guidance reductions and multiple compression. We believe CoStar shares were also impacted by concerns that the company’s second quarter financial results will show a deceleration in net new sales of its residential product following outstanding first quarter performance. We remain encouraged by traction in CoStar’s residential offering although recognize that progress may not be linear. CoStar began to monetize its new Homes.com platform in February. We believe early momentum can be amplified by the recent NAR class action settlement, which has the potential to disrupt the residential brokerage industry and enhance the return on investment for brokers advertising on Homes.com.”
An elegant residential building set against the modern skyline.
CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 40 hedge fund portfolios held CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP) at the end of the first quarter which was 36 in the previous quarter. The second quarter revenue of CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP) was $678 million, reflecting a 12% increase year-over-year. While we acknowledge the potential of CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP) as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for an AI stock that is as promising as NVIDIA but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
In another article, we discussed CoStar Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSGP) and shared Vulcan Value Partners’ views on the company. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2024 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.
READ NEXT: Michael Burry Is Selling These Stocks and A New Dawn Is Coming to US Stocks.
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.