Here’s Why Artisan Mid Cap Fund Sold Aptiv PLC (APTV)

Artisan Partners, an investment management company, released its “Artisan Mid Cap Fund” second quarter 2023 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. In the second quarter, its Investor Class fund ARTMX returned 4.44%, Advisor Class fund APDMX posted a return of 4.48%, and Institutional Class fund APHMX returned 4.49%, compared to a 6.23% return for the Russell Midcap Growth Index. Sector allocation and security selection drove the Q2 underperformance. ARTMX, APDMX, and APHMX returned 17.36%, 17.47%, and 17.48%, respectively, compared to 15.94% for the index. In addition, please check the fund’s top five holdings to know its best picks in 2023.

Artisan Mid Cap Fund Composite highlighted stocks like Aptiv PLC (NYSE:APTV) in the second quarter 2023 investor letter. Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, Aptiv PLC (NYSE:APTV) is a vehicle components manufacturer. On August 29, 2023, Aptiv PLC (NYSE:APTV) stock closed at $100.82 per share. One-month return of Aptiv PLC (NYSE:APTV) was -5.14%, and its shares gained 7.91% of their value over the last 52 weeks. Aptiv PLC (NYSE:APTV) has a market capitalization of $28.514 billion.

Artisan Mid Cap Fund Composite made the following comment about Aptiv PLC (NYSE:APTV) in its second quarter 2023 investor letter:

"Along with Catalent, we ended our investment campaigns in Aptiv PLC (NYSE:APTV) and Nasdaq during the quarter. Aptiv is a leading provider of safety, infotainment and electronic control components to the automotive market. Our view was that the company was well-positioned to benefit from several strong secular industry trends—the shift from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles, autonomous driving and increased computing intensity in vehicles. Over our holding period, a volatile macro environment (pandemic, supply chain shortages) steadily weighed on the profit cycle despite the company’s strong new business announcements. Furthermore, we believe the company may be increasingly disadvantaged as leading auto manufacturers work around tier-one suppliers (such as Aptiv) to maximize profits and speed to market. While the profit cycle may ultimately take hold, we concluded that several of our semiconductor holdings (ON Semiconductor, Lattice Semiconductor and Monolithic Power Systems) offer stronger leverage to these important new auto trends and decided to exit the position."

Aptiv PLC (NYSE:APTV) is not on our list of 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. As per our database, 40 hedge fund portfolios held Aptiv PLC (NYSE:APTV) at the end of second quarter which was 46 in the previous quarter.

We discussed Aptiv PLC (NYSE:APTV) in another article and shared the list of big companies that stopped paying dividends. In addition, please check out our hedge fund investor letters Q2 2023 page for more investor letters from hedge funds and other leading investors.