Baron Funds, an investment management company, released its “Baron Opportunity Fund” fourth quarter 2023 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. In the fourth quarter, the fund rose 15.10% (Institutional Shares), outperformed the Russell 3000 Growth Index, which gained 14.09%, and the S&P 500 Index, which advanced 11.69%. The fund saw a significant increase of almost 50% for the entire year, which was substantially higher than both indexes. It was a strong recovery after a challenging 2022. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2023.
Baron Opportunity Fund featured stocks like Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) in the fourth quarter 2023 investor letter. Headquartered in San Diego, California, Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) offers life science tools and integrated systems for for genetic and genomic analysis. On February 27, 2024, Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) stock closed at $139.76 per share. One-month return of Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) was -2.27%, and its shares lost 29.61% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) has a market capitalization of $22.208 billion.
Baron Opportunity Fund stated the following regarding Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) in its fourth quarter 2023 investor letter:
“Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) has been the leading provider of DNA sequencing platforms. The stock declined due to weak financial results, management turnover, and uncertainty about the outcome of the acquisition of Grail, which regulators have challenged on antitrust grounds and in the meantime has been burning cash flow and hampering Illumina’s consolidated performance. We exited our Illumina position during the quarter but will continue our research and analysis regarding the adoption of Illumina’s new sequencing instruments, management’s plan to divest Grail, the evolving DNA-sequencing competitive environment, and the new company management team.”
A research facility with medical professionals surrounded by diagnostic equipment.
Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. At the end of the fourth quarter, Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) was held by 58 hedge fund portfolios, up from 40 in the previous quarter, according to our database.
We discussed Illumina, Inc. (NASDAQ:ILMN) in another article and shared RiverPark Large Growth Fund’s views on the company. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 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.
