PGIM Jennison Health Sciences Fund released its second quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The fund modestly underperformed the S&P 1500 Health Care Index in the quarter which declined 1.1%. Security selection within pharmaceuticals, MedTech, and health care provides & services contributed the most value during the quarter, while stock selection within Biotechnology was largely detracted. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2024.
PGIM Jennison Health Sciences Fund highlighted stocks like Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN), in the second quarter 2024 investor letter. Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) is a biotech company that discovers, develops, manufactures, and delivers human therapeutics. The one-month return of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) was -1.43%, and its shares gained 20.62% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On October 2, 2024, Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) stock closed at $319.73 per share with a market capitalization of $171.8 billion.
PGIM Jennison Health Sciences Fund stated the following regarding Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) in its Q2 2024 investor letter:
“Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) is a large cap global biotech company with a diverse portfolio of marketed and pipeline products. Amgen’s discovery pipeline had led the company to broaden its focus from oncology, immunology, and renal disease to include musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, and neurologic conditions. In addition, Amgen has turned its expertise in antibody manufacturing into a leading position in the development of biosimilars of competitor drugs. Most recently, Amgen shares advanced in 2Q following its announcement that its novel injectable GLP-1 agonist / GIPR antagonist, MariTide, for obesity showed promising interim Phase 2 data and has shown enough promise to warrant advancement into pivotal trials as soon as late 2024. While Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk will remain the market leaders in the diabetes / obesity space, we think there is room for Amgen to carve out a meaningful share of the market with its antibody-peptide conjugate approach that could enable monthly or better dosing for MariTide.”
A laboratory technician researching a sample of cells in a biotechnology laboratory.
Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) is not on our list of 31 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 69 hedge fund portfolios held Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) at the end of the second quarter which was 63 in the previous quarter. While we acknowledge the potential of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) 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 Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ:AMGN) and shared the list of best healthcare stocks to buy according to hedge funds. 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.