Artisan Partners Releases First Quarter 2024 Investor Letter for Artisan Mid Cap Fund
Artisan Partners, an investment management company, recently released its first quarter 2024 investor letter for the Artisan Mid Cap Fund. The fund saw impressive returns in the first quarter, with the Investor Class fund ARTMX returning 10.41%, the Advisor Class fund APDMX posting a return of 10.40%, and the Institutional Class fund APHMX returning 10.44%. This outperformed the Russell Midcap Growth Index, which had a return of 9.50%.
The success of the fund was attributed to balanced security selection across various sectors such as health care, industrials, consumer staples, consumer discretionary, and communication services. This strategy led the portfolio to outperform the index in the quarter.
One of the featured stocks in the first quarter 2024 investor letter was WESCO International, Inc. (NYSE:WCC). Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, WESCO International, Inc. offers business-to-business distribution, logistics services, and supply chain solutions. The stock closed at $165.51 per share on April 11, 2024, with a one-month return of 3.36% and a 52-week gain of 20.44%. The company has a market capitalization of $8.433 billion.
In the investor letter, Artisan Mid Cap Fund discussed its decision to end its investment in WESCO International, Inc. The company’s 2020 acquisition of Anixter made it the largest US electrical and data center distributor, but the fund was disappointed in the financial results and decided to exit the position in favor of higher conviction beneficiaries of secular trends.
WESCO International, Inc. is not among the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds, but it was held by 39 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the fourth quarter. Investors can find more information on the company in other articles and hedge fund investor letters.
Overall, Artisan Partners’ Artisan Mid Cap Fund had a successful first quarter in 2024, with strong returns and strategic decisions driving its performance. Investors can learn more about the fund’s top holdings and investment strategies by accessing the full investor letter.