Ariel Investments, an investment management company, released its “Ariel Appreciation Fund” second-quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The bull market surged in the second quarter, driven by investor enthusiasm for artificial intelligence (AI) themed stocks. This narrow, momentum-driven rally helped the S&P 500 achieve a modest gain, despite declines in Mid- and Small-Cap companies. The Ariel Appreciation fund fell -6.56% in the quarter, trailing the -3.40% and -3.35% returns of the Russell Midcap Value and Russell Midcap indices. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Ariel Appreciation Fund highlighted stocks like The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) in the second quarter 2024 investor letter. Founded in 1869, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) is a financial institution that operates through Global Banking & Markets, Asset & Wealth Management, and Platform Solutions segments. The one-month return of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) was -0.35%, and its shares gained 54.38% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On August 27, 2024, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) stock closed at $507.26 per share with a market capitalization of $160.193 billion.
Ariel Appreciation Fund stated the following regarding The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Shares of global investment bank, The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS), also rose in the period following solid earnings results, highlighted by strength in fixed income, currencies 1 Sindreu, Jon. “The Second Quarter Split the Market.” The Wall Street Journal, July 1, 2024, p. B9. and commodities (FICC) as well as equities trading and better-than-expected investment banking fees. Meanwhile, GS continues to successfully execute on its strategic initiatives to improve the overall return of the company. It is right sizing headcount and narrowing its ambitions in consumer strategy through divestitures and working to improve profitability in Platform Solutions by 2025. With the possibility of increased capital requirements from its regulators, GS plans to reign in buybacks over the short-term but maintain its dividend. Looking ahead, we continue to view the near and long-term outlook for Goldman as attractive, given favorable business trends, continued positive momentum on strategic initiatives and active expense/capital management programs.”
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The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 68 hedge fund portfolios held The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) at the end of the second quarter which was 72 in the previous quarter. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) produced $12.7 billion in net revenues, $3 billion in net earnings, and a 10.9% return on equity during the second quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) 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 The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS) and shared Oppenheimer’s favorite stocks for the next 12 months and the top stock picks. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2024 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.