Parnassus Investments, an investment management company, released the “Parnassus Growth Equity Fund” second quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. In the second quarter, the Fund (Investor Shares) returned 3.74% (net of fees) underperforming the Russell 1000 Growth Index’s 8.33%. Stock selection in the Information Technology sector primarily drove the portfolio’s underperformance. Also, overweight position and stock selection in the Financials sector detracted. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
Parnassus Growth Equity Fund highlighted stocks like Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in the second quarter 2024 investor letter. Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) is a global cybersecurity solutions provider. The one-month return of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) was -2.02%, and its shares gained 50.14% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On September 20, 2024, Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) stock closed at $340.12 per share with a market capitalization of $110.743 billion.
Parnassus Growth Equity Fund stated the following regarding Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) has been a profitable position for the portfolio. Given its elevated valuation, we decided to sell it to fund the purchase of Workday, where we see greater opportunity and a clearer story of margin expansion potential.”
A cutting-edge computer lab full of IT experts monitoring the security of multiple systems.
Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 66 hedge fund portfolios held Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) at the end of the second quarter which was 78 in the previous quarter. In the fiscal fourth quarter, Palo Alto Networks, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:PANW) total revenue increased 12% year-over-year to $2.19 billion, exceeding expectations. While we acknowledge the potential of Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) 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 Palo Alto Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) and shared TimesSquare Capital Management U.S. Focus Growth Strategy’s 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.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.