Investment firm Akre Capital Management disclosed its portfolio for the fourth quarter of 2020 earlier this week.

The Virginia-based firm, which was founded by renowned investor Chuck Akre (Trades, Portfolio), takes a "three-legged stool" approach to stock picking, in which the portfolio managers look for companies that have a strong business model and good management teams that effectively reinvest free cash flow.

Keeping these criteria in mind, the firm' largest trades for the quarter included boosts to the American Tower Corp. (AMT) and CoStar Group Inc. (CSGP) positions and reductions of the Markel Corp. (MKL), Brookfield Asset

Shares of CoStar Group, Inc. (CSGP), a real estate information and marketing services company, continued to contribute to performance in the fourth quarter. CoStar has seen accelerated demand for its digital marketplace businesses as traditionally offline activities are increasingly shifting online. This trend is being partially offset by slower trends in its CRE data licensing businesses. CoStar has over $3.6 billion cash on its balance sheet, which we expect it will use for total addressable market-expanding acquisitions, particularly in the residential market.

From [url=https://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=Ron+Baron]Ron Baron[/url] ([url=https://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=Ron+Baron]Trades[/url], [url=https://www.gurufocus.com/holdings.php?GuruName=Ron+Baron]Portfolio[/url])'s Baron Focused Growth Fund fourth-quarter 2020 shareholder letter.

DEAR BARON FOCUSED GROWTH FUND SHAREHOLDER:

PERFORMANCE

Baron Focused Growth Fund (the "Fund") increased 32.35% (Institutional Shares) in the fourth quarter. The Russell 2500 Growth Index (the "Index"), the benchmark against which we compare the performance of the Fund, increased 25.89%, and the S&P 500 Index increased by 12.15% during the quarter. The S&P 500 Index measures the performance of large-cap companies. For the year ended December 31, 2020, the Fund increased 122.75%, while the Index increased 40.47% and the S&P 500 Index increased 18.40%. Baron Focused Growth Fund has outperformed its benchmarks for the 1-, 3-, 5-, and 10-year

Shares of real estate information and marketing services provider CoStar Group, Inc. (CSGP) contributed to performance as net new sales reaccelerated quickly. Demand for CoStar's digital marketplace businesses has grown as traditionally offline activities have increasingly shifted online during the pandemic. This growth was partially offset by slower trends in CoStar's CRE data licensing businesses. The company has over $3.6 billion cash, which we expect to be used for market-expanding acquisitions.

From [url=https://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=Ron+Baron]Ron Baron[/url] ([url=https://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=Ron+Baron]Trades[/url], [url=https://www.gurufocus.com/holdings.php?GuruName=Ron+Baron]Portfolio[/url])'s Baron Partners Fund third-quarter 2020 shareholder letter.

DEAR BARON PARTNERS FUND SHAREHOLDER:

PERFORMANCE

Baron Partners Fund (the "Fund") advanced considerably in the third quarter of 2020 and meaningfully exceeded its comparable benchmarks and its peer group. The Fund gained 47.15% (Institutional Shares) in the quarter. The Russell Midcap Growth Index (the "Index") and S&P 500 Index were up 9.37% and 8.93%, respectively. The Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth Category Average rose 10.20%.

The Fund's quarterly performance is a continuation of the strong results exhibited since the depths of the COVID-19-induced market panic. The Fund has now advanced 74.41% since the start of the year. This result again compares favorably

Shares of real estate information and marketing services provider CoStar Group, Inc. (CSGP) contributed to performance as net new sales reaccelerated more quickly than investor forecasts. Demand for CoStar's digital marketplace businesses has grown as traditionally offline activities have increasingly shifted online during the pandemic. This growth was partially offset by slower trends in CoStar's CRE data licensing businesses. The company has over $3.6 billion of cash on its balance sheet, which we expect to be used for market-expanding acquisitions.

From [url=https://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=Ron+Baron]Ron Baron[/url] ([url=https://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=Ron+Baron]Trades[/url], [url=https://www.gurufocus.com/holdings.php?GuruName=Ron+Baron]Portfolio[/url])'s Baron Growth Fund third-quarter 2020 shareholder letter.

Dear Baron Growth Fund Shareholder:

Performance

Baron Growth Fund (the "Fund") returned 10.95% (Institutional Shares) during the quarter ended September 30, 2020, and has gained 9.87% year-to-date. Performance in both periods compares favorably to the Fund's primary benchmark, the Russell 2000 Growth Index (the "Benchmark"), which gained 7.16% for the quarter and 3.88% year-to-date. Performance also compares favorably to the S&P 500 Index, which measures the performance of publicly traded large-cap U.S. companies. That index gained 8.93% for the quarter and 5.57% year-to-date.

The Fund's performance continues to be driven by favorable stock selection. This is the goal of our

Greetings from Middleburg. "May no new thing arise" is an old Spanish benediction spoken between friends at parting. With so much of normal life on hold, it seems the begrudging best one can hope for under COVID is, indeed, that no new thing arise. That remains the case at Akre Capital where (knock on wood) our employees remain healthy and productive. We hope the same applies to you.

The Akre Focus Fund's third quarter 2020 performance for the Institutional share class was 5.58% compared with S&P 500 Total Return at 8.93%. Year-to-date performance through September 30 for the Institutional share

Akre Capital Management, the firm founded by Chuck Akre (Trades, Portfolio), disclosed this week that its top five trades during the second quarter were position expansions of CoStar Group Inc. (CGSP), Ansys Inc. (ANSS), Mastercard Inc. (MA), Brookfield Asset Management (BAM) and KKR & Co. Inc. (KKR).

The Middleburg, Virginia-based firm seeks long-term capital appreciation through a classic value investing approach. Akre Capital Management looks for companies with strong business models, high return on equity, shareholder-friendly management and low price-to-free-cash-flow ratios.

As of the quarter-end, Akre Capital Management's

Shares of CoStar Group, Inc. (CSGP), a real estate information and marketing services company, contributed to performance as markets rallied and financial results were better than investors feared. CoStar has seen an acceleration in its digital marketplace businesses as traditionally offline activities are increasingly shifting online. This growth was partially offset by slower trends in its commercial real estate data licensing businesses. We believe CoStar’s revenue streams are well diversified, its contracts are sticky, and its competitors are under-managed and under-capitalized.

From [url=https://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=Ron+Baron]Ron Baron[/url] ([url=https://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=Ron+Baron]Trades[/url], [url=https://www.gurufocus.com/holdings.php?GuruName=Ron+Baron]Portfolio[/url])'s Baron Focused Growth Fund second-quarter 2020 shareholder letter.

Dear Baron Focused Growth Fund Shareholder:

Performance

It has been a volatile first half to the year. Baron Focused Growth Fund’s (the “Fund”) investments fell in the first quarter due to concerns about the Coronavirus and its impact on these businesses. Those investments then experienced dramatic rebounds in the second quarter as the U.S. economy reopened, business returned, and many companies had improved balance sheets with capital raises to be certain they would survive the economy’s shutdown. The Fund increased 40.67% (Institutional Shares) in the second quarter. The Russell 2500 Growth Index (the “Index”), the benchmark against which we compare

Dear Baron WealthBuilder Fund Shareholder:

Performance

Baron WealthBuilder Fund (the “Fund”) advanced considerably in the second quarter of 2020 and meaningfully exceeded its comparable benchmarks. The Fund gained 35.46% (Institutional Shares) in the quarter. The S&P 500 Index (the “Index”) gained 20.54%. The MSCI ACWI Index, which measures global markets, increased 19.22%.

The Fund’s gains in the quarter have more than offset the sudden and rapid declines in the first quarter as COVID-19 began to impact America and halt many global economies. The Fund has now advanced 10.42% since the start of the year. This result compares favorably to its

In an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Tuesday morning, billionaire investor Ron Baron (Trades, Portfolio), who leads New York-based Baron Capital, said he believes both Tesla Inc. (TSLA) and SpaceX still have plenty of room to grow.

Shares of Elon Musk’s Palo Alto, California-based electric vehicle company, which reported strong sales in China for the month of May, closed at a record of $949.92 on Monday after opening at $919. Baron said he projects the stock has “10 times more to go” and wants to buy more shares.

Year to date, Tesla’s stock has climbed nearly

Akre Capital Management, the firm founded by Chuck Akre (Trades, Portfolio), disclosed this week that its top five buys for the first quarter included new positions in Adobe Inc. (ADBE) and Live Nation Entertainment Inc. (LYV) and position boosts in Brookfield Asset Management Inc. (BAM), Mastercard Inc. (MA) and CoStar Group Inc. (CSGP).

Headquartered in Middleburg, Virginia, Akre Capital Management selects investments using a classic value approach. The firm seeks companies with strong business models, consistent earnings growth, high return on equity, low price-to-free-cash-flow ratios and shareholder-friendly management.

The firm’s $10.29

Weitz Investment Management's Wallace Weitz (Trades, Portfolio) disclosed seven new holdings in his portfolio for the first quarter of the year, which was released earlier this week.

When picking stocks, the guru's Omaha, Nebraska-based firm combines Benjamin Graham's principles of price sensitivity and insistence on margin of safety with a conviction that qualitative factors that allow the company to control its future can be more important than statistical metrics like book value and earnings.

With these criteria in mind, Weitz took positions in CoStar Group Inc. (CSGP), S&P Global Inc. (SPGI), Heico Corp. (HEI.A), IDEX Corp. (IEX),

Dominant Services with a World of White Space

CoStar Group (CSGP) is a leading provider of commercial real estate information services. With an army of researchers, a massive proprietary database, and a track record of consistent investment, its services have become essential tools for real estate professionals. The group has built a wide moat that we believe is unlikely to be crossed by any competitor. CoStar Group scores high in our quality assessment and has a clean balance sheet. We have been able to buy the company at what we believe is a significant discount to intrinsic value, making it

Shares of CoStar Group, Inc. (CSGP), a real estate information and marketing services company, detracted from performance as markets declined significantly due to the COVID-19 outbreak. However, business trends are outstanding, with the company’s bookings improving by approximately 20% year-over-year in 2019. We are optimistic about the company’s growth prospects in the multi-family marketing space, which should be enhanced by the pending acquisition of RentPath, the ramping success in the LoopNet marketplace, and sustained growth in its core information services business.

From [url=https://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=Ron+Baron]Ron Baron[/url] ([url=https://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=Ron+Baron]Trades[/url], [url=https://www.gurufocus.com/holdings.php?GuruName=Ron+Baron]Portfolio[/url])'s Baron Partners Fund first-quarter 2020 shareholder commentary.

Ron Baron (Trades, Portfolio)'s Baron Funds sold shares of the following stocks during the fourth quarter of 2019.

CoStar Group

The guru reduced the CoStar Group Inc. (CSGP) position by 5.16%. The portfolio was impacted by -0.3%.

The provider of commercial real estate data has a market cap of $26.24 billion and an enterprise value of $24.99 billion.

GuruFocus gives the company a profitability and growth rating of 8 out of 10. The return on equity of 9.96% and return on assets of 8.92% are outperforming 65% of companies in

Chuck Akre (Trades, Portfolio)'s Akre Capital Management recently disclosed its fourth-quarter 2019 portfolio updates.

Akre founded Akre Capital Management in 1989 and currently serves as the chairman and chief investment officer of the firm. Headquartered in Middleburg, Virginia, the firm invests in a small number of quality businesses run by good managers who reinvest their free cash flow wisely. These are the three components that make up Akre’s “three-legged stool” investment philosophy, which the firm is known for sticking closely to.

As of the quarter’s end, the equity portfolio consisted of 25 stocks valued

Shares of CoStar Group, Inc. (CSGP), a real estate information and marketing services company, detracted in the quarter after strong performance earlier in the year. Business trends are outstanding, with the company’s bookings improving by approximately 14% year-over-year in its most recently reported quarter. We are optimistic about the company’s incremental investment in the multi-family marketing space. While this investment will reduce earnings in 2020, we believe it will generate attractive returns for shareholders over the intermediate and long term.

From [url=https://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=Ron+Baron]Ron Baron[/url] ([url=https://www.gurufocus.com/StockBuy.php?GuruName=Ron+Baron]Trades[/url], [url=https://www.gurufocus.com/holdings.php?GuruName=Ron+Baron]Portfolio[/url])'s Baron Partners Fund fourth-quarter 2019 shareholder letter.