Soumya Eswaran
3 min read
In This Article:
ClearBridge Investments, an investment management company, released its “ClearBridge Large Cap Value Strategy” first quarter 2025 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. The S&P 500 Index declined by -4.3% in Q1 2025 due to a tariff war and a shift away from AI-related tech stocks. Amid the tech-led sell-off, the benchmark, the Russell 1000 Value Index, outperformed its growth counterpart in the quarter. Against this backdrop, the strategy underperformed the benchmark in Q1. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2025.
In its first-quarter 2025 investor letter, ClearBridge Large Cap Value Strategy highlighted stocks such as Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO). Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) engages in the research and development, manufacture, and distribution of pharmaceutical products. The one-month return of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) was 11.87%, and its shares lost 50.41% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On May 19, 2025, Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) stock closed at $67.02 per share with a market capitalization of $292.25 billion.
ClearBridge Large Cap Value Strategy stated the following regarding Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) in its Q1 2025 investor letter:
"We initiated a new position in Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO), the global leader in diabetes care and one of two dominant players in the fast-growing GLP-1 diabetes and obesity drug market. A slowdown in prescriptions for Novo’s GLP-1 drugs, combined with confusion surrounding a clinical trial of its next-generation candidate, CagriSema, caused a significant pullback in the stock. We saw this as a buying opportunity. We believe the GLP-1 market remains vast and that Novo (alongside Eli Lilly) is well-positioned to maintain a duopolistic structure for years to come, given the complexity of manufacturing, differentiated intellectual property and brand strength. We also expect growth to reaccelerate as supply ramps up following its acquisition of Catalent and as regulators crack down on unlicensed compounders."
An elderly couple receiving insulin from a pharmacist, representing healthcare company's successful pharmaceutical products.
Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 64 hedge fund portfolios held Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) at the end of the fourth quarter which was 61 in the previous quarter. In the March quarter of 2025, Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) delivered 18% sales growth and 20% operating profit growth. While we acknowledge the potential of Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) 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 undervalued AI stock set for massive gains.
