Artisan Partners, an investment management company, released its “Artisan Small Cap Fund” fourth quarter 2024 investor letter. A copy of the letter can be downloaded here. US stocks concluded a strong year with strong gains in Q4. In Q4, the portfolio's performance was flat and narrowly trailed the Russell 2000® Growth Index. In 2024, the portfolio produced a robust absolute return that was in line with the Russell 2000® Growth Index but outperformed the Russell 2000 Index. In the quarter, its Investor Class fund ARTSX returned 0.61%, Advisor Class fund APDSX posted a return of 0.66%, and Institutional Class fund APHSX returned 0.67%, compared to a return of 1.70% for the Russell 2000 Growth Index. In addition, you can check the fund’s top 5 holdings to find out its best picks for 2024.

In its fourth quarter 2024 investor letter, Artisan Small Cap Fund emphasized stocks such as Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO). Based in San Diego, California, Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO) is a biopharma technology company. The one-month return of Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO) was 6.35%, and its shares gained 48.01% of their value over the last 52 weeks. On March 7, 2025, Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO) stock closed at $60.98 per share with a market capitalization of $7.51 billion.

Artisan Small Cap Fund stated the following regarding Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO) in its Q4 2024 investor letter:

"Among our top detractors were Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO), Crocs and Novanta. Halozyme provides a unique technology platform (ENHANZE®) that enables the conversion of biologics and small molecule drugs administered intravenously into a subcutaneous formulation. This business has been executing well and has benefited from several new partnerships. First, the company announced that Argenx (a key partner) received US FDA approval for VYVGART® Hytrulo co formulated with ENHANZE® for the treatment of adults with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP). Second, it announced that Roche received European Commission marketing authorization for OCREVUS® co-formulated with ENHANZE® for treating relapsing multiple sclerosis (RMS) and primary progressive multiple sclerosis (PPMS). However, offsetting that progress was an unexpected hostile offer for German-based Evotec that drove shares down. While management ultimately decided against pursuing Evotec, we decreased our position given the uncertainty around how management will invest free cash flow in the future."

An image of a research technician wearing lab coat with a syringe full of biopharmaceuticals.

Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 25 hedge fund portfolios held Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO) at the end of the fourth quarter compared to 23 in the third quarter. In 2024, Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:HALO) revenue exceeded $1 billion for the first time, growing 22% from 2023 and in fourth quarter the revenue grew 30% to $298 million. While we acknowledge the potential of Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO) 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 Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:HALO) and shared the list of cheap biotech stocks to invest in. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q4 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.